Graham, Prince & Tilly Too!

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:25:00.004Z

I just thought I'd stop by to wish everyone a Happy Christmas!

Tilly is very down in the dumps tonight, as she's lame again. Hopefully, a few days rest will get her back to normal, but it is a recurring theme with her - predominantly due to over-exuberance rather than her elbow problems. Santa has brought her lots of toys that she won't be able to play with properly, so it's going to be a disappointing Christmas morning for her.

Other than that, she's in fine fettle - still running rings around me, slurping strangers, and terrorising the local wildlife.

As always, but amplified due to the time of year, Prince is high in my mind. The opening line of 'Once in Royal Davids City', sung by the King's College Choir, always reminds me of listening to the carols whilst in the kitchen with him on Christmas Eve.

I hope you all have a Happy Christmas with those that you love - in person and in our hearts.....

Treats, Sighs and Videotape....

2010-07-28T02:10:00.001+01:00

In a few hours it will be three years since I said goodbye to my little boy. At roughly this time I was curled around him on the bed, propping him on his side so that he could sleep comfortably. I'll never forget how scared I was, knowing what I needed to do the next day. Every day since then I've wondered if I made the decision too soon, and if I could have just savoured an extra few hours or days with him. And every day I decide that I knew him well enough to know that he was simply too tired for me to expect him to carry on. He was so brave, and it was only during the last day that he gave any real indication that he'd had enough.

I've just watched some videos of him that I have never watched before. I took them when he was first diagnosed, and it was beginning to dawn on me that I was going to lose him. If you didn't know the context you would wonder why I'd candidly recorded such everyday activities - eating dinner, chewing bones, waiting for his Grandparents to visit etc.... but they were moments that I knew I could never get back. I haven't felt able to watch them until now; I've been too frightened about what I might see, how I might react, and whether it would set me back years in the grieving process. Now was the right time, and I spent most of the time smiling, rather than crying as I had expected. The volume of treats that were dispensed as part of everyday life was quite incredible, as were the number of sighs that I seemed to produce.

There was one particular video that I found very hard to watch, where I had set the camera up in the corner of the room and just left it running. I was sitting on the sofa with Prince, just talking to him in my usual 'baby-voice' when my face simply collapsed and I started crying as I hugged him. Seeing your grown-self fall apart like this is pretty disturbing, especially when I tried so hard throughout the time he was ill not to let him see me crying. That sounds so crazy, but it's true.

I can't imagine a time when I don't still think of him every day as I walk Tilly, and go through my somewhat odd ritual of talking to him and wishing him goodnight before I go to sleep. I'm glad I watched the videos though. It was the right time.

The Girl.....

2010-07-28T02:09:00.005+01:00

I couldn't pop up after a year away from the blog without posting a picture of 'The Girl'. It may be three years since I lost Prince, but that does of course mean that it's nearly three years since Tilly arrived. She's been my absolute saviour. I genuinely don't know what would have happened to me of she hadn't come along.

There are times when she drives me nuts, but they're very few and far between. There are many, many, times every day when I almost suffer real palpitations in trying to express how much I love her.

It may seem ludicrous to some, but I still believe that 'mysterious paws' were at work in bringing us together. Prince was such a kind and generous dog, that it's not beyond my belief to think that he brought us together because he knew we needed each other.

I have no doubt that he's justifiably pleased with his work, and very, very proud of his little sister.

The Tongue-Master General

2009-07-28T14:10:00.004+01:00

It's been so long since I last updated the blog that I thought it only right to let you know how Tilly's getting on. She's fine - still plagued by intermittent periods of lameness, but remaining her characteristically joyous self.

She's calming down quite a lot now that she's reached the 'mature' age of four (!), but still runs rings around me. There's also been a refinement of her 'smooching' strategy and she's mastered the art of getting her tongue around the lips of any unsuspecting stranger who happens to bend down in her company. The washing machine repair-man discovered this a couple of weeks ago, as he innocently stooped to examine the machine. Sluuurrrpppp. He'll think twice before doing that again in a hurry. Bullseye. He loved it really.

She's still not a great fan of cuddling up at every opportunity, but gets incredibly soft at the end of the day when she's tired. The only time you can really 'get hold of her' is when she's in her bed, and of course, I take full advantage of it. She's been my saviour over the past couple of years - I really don't know what would have happened to me if she hadn't scampered along.....

My Boy.....

2009-07-28T13:41:00.006+01:00

Two years have passed since I kissed Prince goodbye. Two years. We never spent two weeks apart, so to think that I haven't physically seen him for two years is hard to comprehend. In some ways, it seems a long time ago, and in others it seems like only yesterday that he was chewing bones on the rug.

I hear a lot of people saying that it gets easier, and that time is a great healer, and so on. I'm not sure I really agree with that. Yes, you become less raw. Yes, you come to accept what's happened a little more. Yes, you adapt to a certain extent. But heal? I don't know. Perhaps on the surface, but there's always that underlying feeling that there's something missing. Something not right. Something out of place. I know that I'll never be quite 'me' again without him. I miss him more than I could ever describe.

Sarah & George

2009-04-22T00:58:00.002+01:00

Sarah left a comment on my last post, as her very handsome labrador, George, has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Many of the people who still check back on this blog know just what a devastating and frightening thing this can be, so please click through to her blog and offer any support you can.

We're sending lots of love and healing thoughts......

First Blackbird of Spring

2009-04-22T00:37:00.005+01:00

The "wee bird" is enjoying the Spring sunshine, even if she chooses what looks like a very uncomfortable position to enjoy it in.....

We're getting back to near-normal walks again now, although I'm still really paranoid about her leg problems. We've had a few ups and downs, but she's fine at the moment, although she does get a little stiff in the evenings. I hope this continues to improve, as it's a little worrying for such a young and active dog to have such problems.... It's not in her nature to let it get her down though, and she continues to bounce through the day without a care in the world. We can learn at lot from our dogs!

This photograph was taken through the upstairs window, as she was checking for breaches in garden security - my neighbours cat is her arch enemy. You may need to click on the picture to see this, but just next to her is a blurred shape. The flash was switched off, but the likelihood is that this was caused by the sun reflecting off the window. Regardless of this, I like to think that it might just be my little boy, keeping an eye on us as ever....

Beware Squirrels!

2009-02-14T19:05:00.003Z

Whilst Tillys leg is much better, and I'm pleased that she's on the move again, I wouldn't like to see her doing what this dog can do.....

Scary!

Happy Christmas!!!

2008-12-25T00:17:00.003Z

I should have asked Santa for a camera for Christmas. I sometimes wonder if my pictures would be less blurred if I used a piece of card with a pin-hole in it........

Better Late Than Never.....

2008-12-21T23:36:00.004Z

I'm sooooo sorry that I haven't posted for sooooooo looooong. Everyone's been leaving kind, helpful, and enquiring comments, and I've been nowhere to be seen.

The main reason for my absence has been that I've just started a new job. Well, I suppose you could say that I've started a 'new' old job. I've returned to a company that I left a couple of years ago, so it's kind of familiar, but not. I've been in London and Dublin over the past couple of weeks, so have had no time for blogging, Christmas preparations, or any sort of non-work related activity. Tilly has been at her Grandparents house for three or four days each week, carefully casting a spell over them. The magic has been very effective - she gets 100% attention, and whatever she wants. No change there then.

We're now approaching the sixth week of her incarceration and she's started doing some very limited walking. We started a week ago with five minutes a day, and we're now at the dizzy heights of about ten or eleven minutes a day. Both she and I are considering entering the Sumo world champtionships next year, we've put on so much weight.

Jokes apart, she's coped with this awful period far better than I have. Yes, she's been frustrated and a bit fed up at times, but she has an amazing ability to make the best of a bad situation. I've been going crazy without fresh air and exercise. It's wonderful to be out now though - even for such a short time each day.

Her leg seems to be holding out quite well at the moment. She had a couple of days of lameness a few weeks ago, but has been pretty much OK since. I'm taking the build up of excercise really slowly, as it would be simply terrible if we went back to square one at this stage. I'm sure she will have bouts of lameness now and again, and there are some things that we used to do that we probably won't be able to do now, but I'm looking forward to getting back to some degree of 'normal walking'.

I now need to do some Christmas preparations. Less than a week to go and there's not a decoration in sight. I do have a wreath on the door, but that's it. Like last year, I bought a second wreath that I'll take down to 'Princes Bridge' and put up for him. I'm determined to be happy and festive for Tilly this year, as it was so hard last year, but it's really tough at times.

I also need to catch up with everyones blogs over the next few days. Thanks so much for your kind and helpful comments, please don't think that because I'm useless at posting and commenting with any regularity, I don't appreciate them.

One final thing before the festive scramble begins......

Happy Christmas and love to you all - humans, the dogs at our feet, and those in our hearts.

House-Arrest

2008-11-20T17:50:00.005Z

Bugger. Bugger. Bugger.

Tilly and I are nearing the end of our first week of six weeks of incarceration.

The x-rays she had at the end of last week led to some very disturbing news. Early indications would suggest that Tilly has Elbow Dysplasia (ED). I can't believe it. Of course, I wouldn't wish her to have any problems, but of all the problems she could have, this has to be one of the worst. Tilly thrives on activity, long walks and high-octane games. And here we are, starting six weeks of house-rest, with the prospect of ongoing lameness problems and limited exercise for the rest of her life. God, I hope they're wrong. I also hope that all the things I've read only apply to the most severe cases. There must be some good news stories out there, but I can't find many.

She's almost the opposite of your 'typical' sufferer of ED in that she's not a big dog, and without putting too fine a point on it, she's some way from being a pedigree.

She's coping quite well with being stuck in the house and resting, all things considered. Apart from the two or three hours a day we would have spent walking, we're also not allowed to play the active games we'd usually fill the rest of the time doing. Consequently, we now spend a lot of time looking at each other in bewilderment.

I'm sure Tilly must think that I've suffered a debilitating accident or something, now that I appear unable to throw a ball more than two feet, or indeed muster the energy to leave the house. She now spends most of her time looking a little sullen, looking hopeful, destroying toys, bullying me, or eating.

The latter activity worries me in itself. We'll need someone to come and grease the front door frame in six weeks time to squeeze us both out. Obesity problem in the UK? You bet.

It's not all bad - I've got an excuse to enforce more 'smooching time', and Tilly occasionally forgets herself and 'comes over all affectionate'. The very grainy picture above, taken in the dark with a camera phone, was an attempt at capturing the 'temptress' look she likes to give from the other side of the room if she feels that attention is lacking.

On another note, Saturday is Princes 'official birthday'. I've never known his real birthday, so the day I got him became his official birthday. Nine years ago I was getting awfully excited - only a few days before I could go and pick up 'the funny looking little dog' we'd met at the rescue centre. My little boy. My love.

Checking In......

2008-11-11T09:11:00.008Z

Blimey, it's been a while. I may not have posted, or commented on anyones blog for a while, but I can assure you that I've been keeping up to date - just lying low.......

Unfortunately, I've been prompted to post by a couple of sad things I've come across over the past few days. I will, however, move onto more positive things later in the post, so please don't despair!

Firstly, I'd like to draw attention to Jenna, whose Mom recently commented on my previous post. Jenna has been diagnosed with Lymphoma but thankfully seems to be getting along quite well with her chemo protocol. I'm sure you'll join me in sending collective love and support....

Jenna

Secondly, I was utterly horrified to read that Kerrio, and the family over at Blogs From the Dogs, have lost yet another member. Quite how they are keeping going after the year they've had is beyond me. Their grief must be beyond comprehension. My heart goes out to them.

Cleo

Now, on to good news. Lots of my favourite bloggers have new members of the family - Joker now has Dave to mentor and Emily has a whole tribe of new and new(ish) canine companions! Ben has arrived to keep Bridget and Teresa company and Herbie's doing well whilst hiding from the fireworks.

Tilly's a little angel, albeit one with a sore leg again. Another trip to the vets is lined up for this afternoon, although hopefully she'll be better soon. The battery in my camera is flat, so I can't download a recent photograph to post - I'll try and add one later.

Finally, some fairly old 'news', but still exciting nontheless - my brother and his girlfriend have a dog!! Yes, they took the plunge a few months ago, and Scrappy is now a fully fledged member of the extended family. Scrappy is a six year old rescue dog, and I'm full of admiration for them taking on an 'older' dog - rather than doing as most adopters do (myself included) and aiming straight for the younger dogs. Like Tilly, Scrappy is of 'dubious' parentage, and has a lovely nature.

The two of them were getting on well before Tilly hurt her leg, but more introductions will be needed before we let them loose around the Christmas dinner table......

Happy Scrappy!

A Happy Anniversary!

2008-08-09T16:40:00.004+01:00

Today marks the day a year ago that a certain little black thing came to stay.

Tilly thought her new home was OK, and has been hanging around ever since.....

She's gone from being a nervous, scrawny, eel-like thing with a scarred leg, to being a confident little bundle of joy.

She's put up with tears, lunacy, and a fairly chaotic home-life. And that's just in the first year.

She still likes to be independant, and can get a little feisty with dominant bitches who don't show her due reverance.

She bounces around all day without a care in the world, happily accepting any attention I give her, and not really complaining too much when things don't go her way.

She's sleek, beautiful, cute, funny, fast, and frighteningly bright.

Best of all.....

She's mine.

We Interupt This Blog To Bring You.........

2008-08-07T21:55:00.004+01:00

......the dreadful news that Simon Gray has died at the age of 71.

I can't believe it. I don't usually give a hoot when a 'celebrity' that I don't personally know dies, but this chap was a genius in my eyes. An amazing playwright, author, and all-round character. I'm devastated.

Oh well, (ab)normal service will resume shortly. He did have dogs though......

2008-08-02T20:39:00.005+01:00

It's been a strange year. To say that I've been in an emotional maelstrom would be an understatement.

The first anniversary of Princes death was pretty tough, although I seemed to deal with it in my usual upside-down way. For the few days before I thought I was going to be OK, and was fairly philosophical. And then on the day itself, I fell apart without warning. Almost as though someone had whispered in my ear that it had just happened. I was as though all the shock, disbelief and pain from a year ago had been introduced again. One of the many things I've learned over the past year is that I'm useless at dealing with grief, and still don't seem to be able to accept what happened and move forward.

Whilst I'm on the subject of grief, I have to mention Brian and Kerrio over at Blogs from the Dogs. They've lost two of their wonderful pack in the space of a couple of weeks - Megan, and then Kubrin only a couple of days ago. How do you deal with that? My heart goes out to them - they must be falling apart at the moment.

Tilly has been my saviour over the past year. I'm now approaching a much happier anniversary, that of Tillys' arrival nearly a year ago. She's simply wonderful. An absolute joy. Unless you're a rabbit, of course.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been out walking, as miserable as sin, and I've glanced ahead to see her cavorting with another dog or simple streaking into the undergrowth, and smiled a truly happy smile. I don't do that very often now, and when I do it's almost invariably Tilly that prompts it.

She's made great progress over the past year. Gone are the days of her being scared of traffic, unreliable with horses, and a terror off the lead. Her recall is amazing, even if she still likes to be a mile ahead, and she's becoming a bit of a secret softy. But don't tell anyone.

Thanks for all your kind comments and ongoing support. I might be around a little more over the next few weeks, but I'll save that for next time. Oh, and I promise - no more overly maudlin posts!!

Prince

2008-07-26T11:34:00.003+01:00

Prince

1997 -2007

Missing you every moment, every day......
xxxxxx

Another Sad Loss....

2008-06-04T14:44:00.002+01:00

I really shouldn't only post when there is bad news, but I read that Maggie lost her battle with Lymphoma over the weekend and thought that I'd continue the tradition of honouring these beautiful, brave dogs, and their equally brave and loving families.

My heart goes out to Maggies mom, Emily - who must be feeling like she's been hit by a twenty ton weight at the moment. Knowing that your dog has a terminal disease doesn't make it any easier when the time comes for them to move on - however prepared we think we are, nothing can prepare you for the pain and desolation that follows.

One glance at Maggies blog will confirm what a lovely character she was, and what a happy life she led - surrounded by love and fun. I'm sure she'll be continuing in that vein with Prince, Watson, Cole, Yogi and others helping to guide her on her new journey.

I'm sure everyone will join me in sending a lot of love and support to Emily, Angel, and the rest of the family..........

Goodnight Cole

2008-04-10T09:29:00.004+01:00

Teresa lost her beloved Cole yesterday, and I'm sure she's probably in pieces at the moment. Yet another wonderful and loving dog taken away by Lymphoma. Life is so damned cruel at times.

There's really nothing you can say to make things any better under these circumstances, but I'm sure we're all sending a lot of love and support in Teresa, Kevin and Bridgets direction......

Thanks!

2008-04-08T12:02:00.004+01:00

Just a quick one to say a huge thank-you for all your very kind comments following my last post. I've been quite touched by the reaction! Now I'm considering 'doing a Tony Blair' and actually not going anywhere for a good year or two......!

Seriously though, I will be posting occasionally, when time permits, and following everyone elses fun and games as often as I can.

Tilly's feeling less than ecstatic following a soaking on this mornings walk....

Au Revoir (ish!)

2008-04-05T21:52:00.008+01:00

As you've probably realised, my postings have dwindled to the point that I've practically given up blogging. This isn't for any particular reason, it's just that I tend to have so little time to post, and so little of great interest to post about. This blog was originally set up when Prince was first diagnosed with Lymphoma as a resource for others, an outlet for me, and of course, as a showcase for the most special little dog on earth.

I'm not giving up entirely, and I may well appear occasionally to publish a post if something exceptional happens, or if I find myself with a few spare minutes, but it's unlikely that this is going to be a very active blog in the future. I've met (virtually) some wonderful people and their dogs over the past nine months and will continue to keep up with their blogs when I can, and comment where appropriate. Of course, those bloggers whose dogs are suffering with Lymphoma will be the most closely followed, perhaps because I think I can share some of their pain, even if I can't take it away.

One thing I've been meaning to do for some time is post the remaining links that I found during the dark days when Prince was ill. It's been horrible having to look at them all again to check the addresses, but they may be useful to anyone who stumbles across this blog whilst researching Canine Lymphoma. I sincerely hope that nobody find themselves in the postition where they do.

I'm going to scan (subject to the copyright owners approval) the two articles I wrote for Dogs Today, and some printed information that the oncologists at Liverpool University gave to me and add it to this post over the next few days - so check back if you think it will be useful.

I'm going to check what Princes 'sister' is up to now. She's being suspiciously quiet.....

Bye for now!

Lymphoma Resources

Liverpool University Small Animal Teaching Hospital

Animal Cancer Trust

Pet Screen

Lymphoma Factsheet

Petcancervet

Labbies.com

Pharmorubicin (Human version of Epirubicin)

Vincristine (Human)

Cyclophosphamide

Prednisolone (Human)

Haemorrhagic Cystitis

Petplan (I hope you've got GOOD insurance!)

Greyhoundgate

2008-04-05T21:26:00.004+01:00

Ludicrous. Frankly ridiculous. And no, I'm not referring to Emma Milnes' article in Dogs Today magazine, but the utterly idiotic reaction that it's caused.

I'm no great fan of Emma Milne, and I certainly don't condone her comments in the article, but the online reaction has been the most embarrassing display of opportunistic, unpleasant, and in many cases, downright vicious drivel I've seen in some time.

Emma Milne was stupid to file such a controversial piece, and betrayed the trust of Beverley and her team by doing so. Beverley, but her own repeated admissions, should have checked the copy before it went to print. But, the crap that's been written since has been ridiculous -veiled threats, blatant requests for financial 'recompense', demands for sackings, apologies, and a whole magazine full of greyhound worship. We all love dogs, or we wouldn't be reading this stuff. Greyhounds and lurchers are wonderful, and Dogs Today have supported them for a long time. Nobody who is a suitable owner for a rescue greyhound will now opt for a labrador purely on the basis of Milnes' article.

So - get over it. Continue doing the amazing work you do, and fundraising via the usual means - rather than trying to extort money and coverage from a magazine and editorial team that does their very best for the canine population year after year. If anyone can prove to me via audited figures that in twelve months time the numbers of dumped greyhounds have increased over and above the usual yearly incremental increase, or the numbers adopted have reduced on a similar basis, I'll donate £100 to EGLR. But, on the other hand, I'll probably make a donation anyway....

She Likes It Rough…..

2008-03-16T13:47:00.004Z

Especially with a handsome lurcher. But if you’ve reached this post through Google, you’re going to be very disappointed, because I don’t mean that she likes ‘it’ rough. Tilly likes rough games with her doggy pals – and it frightens the daylights out of me if I’m honest.

Tilly’s the sort of dog that tends to bounce, thank goodness. The more another dog cannons into her, the more she seems to enjoy it. She met up with some friends at Chester Racecourse a couple of days ago, and her favourite is a young lurcher who loves to chase her around the track at ludicrous speeds. Now of course, lurchers love to chase. And Tilly loves to be chased. She’s not at all worried about the fact that being ‘caught’ usually involves her being crashed into at speed, and rolling over several times before coming to a stop. My heart’s in my mouth the whole time, but whilst I’d love to wrap her in cotton wool and carry her around all the time, I can’t. She’s a youthful, exuberant dog who is totally consenting in these matters. So much so that we’ve decided to invent a new sport – ‘Tilly coursing’. It’s a bit like hare coursing, but with willing prey. She plays on the basis that when the time comes, roles are reversed, and she gets to chase her friends around the course and they let her ‘catch’ them occasionally.

And The Award Goes To......

2008-03-16T13:41:00.002Z

.............us!!!!!!!

Thanks Fiona, that's really kind - especially when you have so many other things to think about.

Now, I'm going to cheat again and award it to all those who read this blog - you all make me smile with your posts and comments......

Weasel Work

2008-03-07T00:22:00.002Z

This is Tilly, trying to convince me that a game with 'Weasel' would be preferable to work. Of course, she's quite right, but sometimes it's just not an option. The last few days have been a little like that - it's been hectic. My apologies to all those whose blogs I should have been reading and simply haven't had time visit - I'll catch up soon.

I did want to put a quick post up to echo Linda and encourage everyone to visit Fionas blog. She's having such a hard time at the moment, and whilst I can empathise fully with her devastation at having lost Yogi last week, I can't imagine how hard it must be with the added worry of her Mum being ill.

I also wanted to mention a lady called Teresa who left a lovely comment on my previous post which led me to her blog. She has two wonderful dogs - Cole and Bridget, and unfortunately Cole has recently been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Teresa has taken the brave step of choosing not to pursue chemotherapy treatment with her, but to make her as happy and comfortable as she can over the coming months. It's a route I considered with Prince, and a small part of me still wishes I had. Cole seems to be having a wonderful time at the moment, with visits to the beach and lots of cuddles. I'd encourage you to have a look - like so many blogs that have sprung up as a result of Lymphoma diagnosis it's peppered with humour (often the thing that gets us through) and I particularly like the 'Semi-Casual Look'!

I'm So Lucky.....

2008-03-01T22:15:00.005Z

Yes, I know that may seem to be a slightly odd statement. Especially coming from me, as someone who has spent a large proportion of the last year bemoaning his lack of fortune and the darkness of unexpected events.

So why on earth might I consider myself lucky? During rare moments of clarity, it's fairly straightforward. Firstly, I had the absolute privilege of spending nearly eight years of my life in the company of Prince. I was the richest man on the planet during that time, and no stock-market crash can ever take away what he so generously gave to me.

Secondly, I'm lucky because Prince introduced me to Tilly. Those of you that have been reading this blog for some time may recall that when I visited the RSPCA centre, Tilly was 'not for re-homing'. Orange paws were certainly at work when I asked why, and discovered it was a mistake and that she could indeed choose me to take her home if she so wished.

She did, and proved that in characteristic style, Prince continued to look out for me even after he'd moved on to his new adventure. And she's utterly fantastic. Buzzy, licky, dafty, bouncy, fantastic. Yes, she drives me crazy at times, but Prince couldn't have chosen a better sister.

Do you see? I'm the luckiest man on earth. I also have the best family I could wish for, even if they REALLY drive me crazy at times, and some damned good friends. I have a house that's reasonably warm, and struggle not to eat too much. I'm lucky.

The only unfortunate thing is that sometimes it takes others grief to remind you just how lucky you are.

A wise big brother......

And his little sister, maintaining the tradition of a cat-free garden.....

Yogi

2008-02-26T12:48:00.004Z

I've just read the awful news that Fiona had to say goodbye to Yogi this morning. Another beautiful, fun-loving dog, cruelly taken from those who love him by Lymphoma.

He was utterly georgeous, and an absolute credit to his 'human family' who helped to give him the strength and love to battle the disease so courageously. They were also able to provide the ultimate kindness in helping him move onto the next level when the time came.

It's horrendous to know that someone else is having to deal with the numbness, shock, and utter devastation that I went through when I lost my little boy.

There's nothing I can say that will help, so let's all just send lots of love and support to Yogi's family.

Have a safe journey, Yogi-bear, and if a little chap called Prince comes along to help guide you in your new adventure - tell him I love him.....

Back in Blighty......

2008-02-21T22:34:00.013Z

I'm back on UK soil, and Tilly is snoozing, upside down, next to me on the sofa. It's great to be back, but I think we've both had a good time. Tilly has clearly thoroughly enjoyed being spoilt rotten by her Grandparents, and I've had a great time in Paris.

As soon as I'd picked Tilly up I took her to her regular morning walking spot, to check the 'pee-mail' from her pals, and have a general blow-out. She was an absolute lunatic - which was great to see. Of course, I know that she's had oodles of exercise and games whilst I've been away, but if she'd been at kennels I would have been ringing them to rant furiously about them not having let her out the whole time I was away! I think she was just happy to be back on 'home turf' and running rings around me again.

She was also pretty jolly at having scored a 'hole in one' oral smooch with a lady who mistakenly bent down to say hello to her. Tilly provided the now trademark 'kiss' - nearly removing the unsuspecting ladys' dentures in the process.....

I seemed to fit quite a lot into my visit to France. Of course, I spent 90% of my time in cafes, people watching and ploughing my way through three books, but I also managed to visit a plethora of bookshops to replenish stocks, a few galleries and a couple of museums. I avoided Shakespeare & Co this time, having decided that it's simply an over-hyped, and rather hypocritical base for intellectually challenged, but pretentious, tourists. I did buy a couple of books from them the last time I was there though, so read into that what you will.....

Instead, this time I visited La Hune, Galignani and Librairie L7, along with a few others that I happened upon by chance - including a tiny English Language bookshop in St. Sulpice, complete with resident tortoise.

I mooched through another section of the Musee d'Orsay - having given up on previous trips, whilst attempting to see it all in a day. I also visited the Jardin des Plantes and its two key museums of natural history and comparative anatomy. I wandered through the seedy streets of Pigale, and paid the mandatory visit to the Cafe de Flore and Les Deux Magots in St Germain. I was determined not to visit these two cafes this time, having been to both before and decided that they suffered from a similar affliction to Shakespeare & Co, but I did crack in the end. Of course, I spent the whole time scuttering about people who don't even bother to learn enough French to order a couple of coffees, and then wonder why the waiters are rude. My French language skills are terrible, but at least I try......

Now, for some pictures. Of course, I've included only the vaguely cultural ones. It's not as though I spent most of the trip getting drunk on wine outside cafes......

The Musee d'Orsay.

Of course I wasn't missing my rural lifestyle.......

A Distant Relative......

The Jardin des Plantes, looking a little uninspiring!

Outside Les Deux Magots - drunk, hence the blurry image.......

Les Deux Magots, with the Cafe de Flore in the background.

St Germain Church.

Hey Fluffy Pants...

2008-02-13T22:08:00.005Z

As I type, Tilly is roasting gently by the fire. It's a domestic scene that opposes that of a few hours ago quite starkly. On arrival home from this afternoons walk I wrinkled my nose gingerly, as the most horrific stench enveloped the room. Think ammonia, car-park stairwells, and used nappies. Yes, Tilly had somehow ended up smelling strongly of wee. I'm pretty sure it wasn't hers, either.

I've no idea how this came about, but the large labrador cross she had been playing with remains prime suspect. Anyway, she's been in the tub for the second time this week. Bath-time is not something she enjoys, but she does tolerate it quite well. And of course, it prompts that doggy phenomena of zooming around the house at break-neck speed when drying is complete.

As an added bonus, I get to chuckle at her enormous 'trousers' for the rest of the night. She is the proud owner of a fairly impressive pair of 'hairy pants' at the best of times, but after a bath they become all the more impressive. Tonight I swear they extended a good three inches out from the back of her legs. I'm not sure the picture below does them justice.

Anyway, talking of 'les pantalon grand', I'm heading to Paris for a few days from Friday, so I'll be even more elusive than ever on the posting front. Tilly's looking forward to looking after her Grandparents for a few days whilst I eat too much, spend too much time in cafes, oggle beautiful French girls and soak up some culture that seems woefully lacking in the UK nowadays. Of course, I shall be on the phone every day to see how she's getting on.....

A Bone to Pick....

2008-02-11T22:47:00.001Z

....with all those who commented on my previous post. STOP ENCOURAGING HER!!!! She was so taken with the generally positive theme of all the comments that she's upped her game and nuked another couple of rabbits since. Thanks. A lot. The gods of Watership Down will be firing thunderbolts at us soon.....

Ball-on-rope hasn't been totally consigned to history though, she enjoyed a good game in the sunshine a couple of days ago. You can see from the picture that she was very much 'in the shadow' of the ruins of Beeston Castle, which you can just see on top of the hill in the distance.

The weather has been beautiful over the past few days though, and I managed to catch Tilly sunbathing amongst the early Spring flowers in the garden....

On a less bright note, I was sad to read that both Herbie and Yogi have reached the stage where the chemotherapy isn't helping them. Thankfully, it sounds like both are feeling quite well and enjoying the unseasonal weather we've been having. Reading about them brings back some really tough memories about Princes battle with Lymphoma. It doesn't matter how prepared you are for these things - I knew from the first time I took Prince to the vets with swollen glands that my previously held belief that he was immortal was going to be shattered. Despite this, the shock, numbness, depair and grief was, and is, unbearable. Lets send some collective love and support to them both - I really hope they feel well for a long time to come yet.

To close this post on a postive note - Maggie, who's also suffering from Lymphoma, is still responding really well to her treatment!!

Bunny Running.....

2008-02-08T00:13:00.000Z

Sweet? Don't be Fooled....

Bloody hell. Tilly has discovered the joy of chasing rabbits. A few days ago (those of a sensitive nature may wish to look away now) Tilly caught her first rabbit, and she's been intolerable since.

Gone are the heady days of lazily throwing a ball around for Tilly to retrieve, and no longer can I amble along without worrying what she might be up to. Now, the unfortunate likelihood is that she's disembowling a rabbit in front of an audience of traumatised children. Recall has gone out of the window, as a running rabbit is invariably more exciting than me, and the once favoured 'ball-on-rope' is now discarded at the first hint of bunny scent.

As a terrier, Prince was the ultimate rabbit-hunter. However, as a terrier, he also had rather short legs and a typically male 'blustering' approach that led to a relatively low chase to catch ratio. People always say that a good teacher will produce pupils who end up achieving more than they have, and if Prince has passed his rabbitting skills on to Tilly, with her long legs and incredible speed, the rabbit population of Cheshire is in big trouble.........

And finally, we've won another award!!! Thanks very much to AOJ and The Lurchers for presenting us with this award.....

Now - I'm male, lazy, and tired. So I'm going to pinch an idea from some other bloggers (who shall remane nameless....) and dedicate it to all those people whose blogs I read - because if they weren't all excellent, I wouldn't read them!

Awards & New Faces

2008-02-01T23:28:00.001Z

We've been given another award! Snoutbeagle has very kindly presented us with the 'Thinking Blogger Award' and we're very grateful. It's good to find another beagle blog too!

Here are the rules attached to the Thinking Blogger Award, copied directly from Diesels blog:

1. You must write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think. (No squirrel or cat blogs, they'll just make you hungry.)
2. Acknowledge and link to this post.
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.
4. Tell your humans to fork over the treats!

Now, all the blogs that I read make me think for one reason or another, but I'm going to pass it on to the following people:-

Dogga - His posts are invariably positive and offer a refreshing perspective when you're feeling a bit 'rubbish'. I also enjoy his random rants!

Meg, Nicole, Clara Bow & Mac - Meg writes a great range of diverse posts, and I admire the way that she deals with her illness, whilst remaining utterly selfless when it comes to looking after Clara.

Emily, Maggie, Ellis and Angel - Maggie is another Lymphoma sufferer, but is thankfully doing well at the moment. Ellis is a guide dog in training, and seems to be enormously talented! Another inspiring blog....

Google & Sama - Google sounds like a bit of a handful at times, and sometimes I wonder how her 'mum' copes! She does sound adorable though....

Chips, Beanz & Carlsberg - I've only just discovered this blog, and as well as making me laugh, I can't get over how much Chips looks like Tilly, or vice-versa. Passing the award on to them seems like a good introduction!

And finally - a couple of gratuitous photographs. The first of 'Trotter' with one of her favourite toys, and one of my little boy in the snow, sticking his tongue out......

(Just) Fun Monday

2008-01-28T23:20:00.000Z

Although I'm not doing this officially, as I didn't register, I thought I'd join in with the 'Fun Monday' initiative hosted by AOJ and show you what's on my bedside table.

Well, it's been a tough time and getting to sleep can be difficult these days........

Supersoft Tilly

2008-01-22T22:48:00.000Z

You may recall that soon after I adopted Tilly I posted a few times about how she was very independent, and not really keen on cuddling and other such soppy activities. I'm pleased to report that whilst she still sees 'smooching' as a waste of valuable playing time, she's becoming decidedly soft in some ways.

Not long ago, any 'downtime' would have been spent in her bed in the kitchen, and as soon as she stopped getting direct attention she would have sloped off. She's now started to mooch back into the sitting room and casually flop down next to me on the rug. She's even beginning to allow me to stroke her whilst she sleeps, without it turning into the inevitable pre-amble to a game. Being picked up is something she still doesn't really enjoy, but for practical purposes it's now grudgingly accepted. All in all, for an independent woman, she's becoming quite soft. I've realised that the more you try and encourage her to be cuddled, the more she rebels, but if you give her the space to come to you, she will. Eventually.....

We're also slightly more 'connected' out on walks. She still spends much of the walk out of sight, galloping around a few hundred yards away from me, but her recall is almost faultless in most circumstances. It's very much the case that you don't 'go out for a walk with Tilly', you simply happen to be walking in the same general area....

She's willing to come back to me virtually straight away though, and she stops periodically to look back and check that I'm still in the same county as her......

She's doing really well. All I need to do now is reduce the number of times that I get bitten throughout the day. It's all light-hearted and very much in the context of play, but I am beginning to look like an abuse victim.

I'm So Rude....

2008-01-16T23:55:00.000Z

I forgot to thank Patience for kindly giving Tilly and I an award!!!

THANKS!!!!

Now I need to think about who to pass it on to.......

Boo!

2008-01-16T22:55:00.000Z

First of all, I must thank AOJ for giving me the nudge I needed to get my blogging head on again, and she's in a very strong position to do this as she's posted virtually every day this year! I've also lost touch with all my favourite blogs to a large extent, so I'm looking forward to having a poke around and seeing what everyone's been up to.

Life's really busy at the moment, and I'm currently taking a couple of days off to try and shake off this annoying virus thing that's been driving me mad for weeks. Tilly is at her Grandparents house today, so that I can catch up on a few chores that aren't very 'Trotter-friendly' and have a bit of a break.

I'm so lucky to have found her - she's an absolute joy. Of course, she drives me mad at times, and I'm certain that she despairs of me quite regularly! I took her to meet a big group of friends and their horses on Saturday, with some trepidation. I've mentioned a few times that up until now she's not been very steady around horses and livestock, so I had expected some 'issues'. She was absolutely brilliant - you would have thought that she'd been milling around horses legs since she'd been born. It may sound a little odd, but I was so proud of her. It's great to see her confidence growing by the day.

She even managed to exercise great restrain the other morning, when our usual walk was ruined by the presence of what seemed like a thousand orienteers. And she didn't chase, bite, or french kiss any of them. More's the pity.

Orienteering - now there's an activity I don't understand. Take lots and lots of people, dress them in lurid lycra cat-suits, and send them out to run aimlessly around a patch of land, glaring at any regular users who might have the audacity to be there at the same time.

They were like bloody ants running all over the hills. Most of them were extraordinarily rude, and clearly determined to achieve whatever their pointless aim might have been, with no concern for those who might be in their way. Of course, I beat them hands down in the grumpy stakes, and wandered around muttering about them churning up the paths and spoiling the view with their revolting lycra clad bodies - many of which bore an incredible similarity to porridge in tights.....

There was one notable exception. The one high point of the walk was when a beautiful blond girl, wearing spray-on lycra, leapt onto the path in front of me. Tilly was quite impressed with my turn of speed as I struggled to keep up with her, but alas, the best pair of buttocks I've seen for some time disappeared into the distance disappointingly quickly. There might be something in this orienteering lark after all........

New Year Ramblings....

2008-01-06T23:24:00.000Z

So much for my new years resolution to blog more frequently......

I can't pretend this festive season has been one that I'll remember too fondly. Apart from the underlying sadness at having spent it without Prince scampering around, it's been pretty much rendered redundant by illness. I had what I described as 'man-flu' before Christmas, and had a couple of days of feeling OK until my Boxing Day hangover morphed into true flu - complete with aches, pains, hot flushes, nausea and all the other delights that come with having real flu, rather than a fairly trivial, albeit male, cold. Both my parents, most of my friends, and my brother and his girlfriend, also came down with viruses and flu over Christmas - producing a very festive germ-pool as you can imagine! We're all at various stages of recovery now, which is good....

I took the decorations down today, and it's a great relief not to have to pretend to be festive any more. Tilly was suitably sour-faced throughout the process, as it couldn't really involve her, but she soon bucked-up when she realised that there was more floor space for play without the Christmas tree in the way. I wish Christmas had been a bit more positively memorable this year, as her first Christmas with me - but hopefully we can make up for it next year.

I'm also the proud owner of a new 'Trotter-mobile'. I'm one of the relatively small number of people who genuinely need to be able to drive across muddy fields and up farm tracks, so needed to replace my old estate car with a four wheel drive. I'm pleased with the new truck, and Tilly seems to thoroughly approve as she sits proudly in the back, but as ever it's tinged with sadness. Isn't it strange the things you can get sentimental about? Of course, I now need to sell my old car. This is the car that still has a million of Princes hairs embedded in the boot lining, and holds so many memories of holidays and days out with Princes little face silhouetted in the rear view mirror that it's painful to think of handing it over to someone else. It'll kill me to sell it, but unfortunately I have to be practical - and I've smashed the front bumper so many times trying to go 'cross-country' in it, that the time has come.

I wish I could stop being so bloody pathetic......

Ho Ho Ho!!!

2007-12-26T21:56:00.000Z

Merry Christmas to you all - and thank you for your kind comments following my previous post, and for all your support over the past few months.

Regardless of your opinions on the rights and wrongs of foxhunting, I think the pictures above sum up an English country Christmas quite well. The turnout at the Boxing day meet in Tarporley earlier today was phenomenal, and spirits were high despite raging hangovers, stray tinsel and reindeer horns.

The past few days have been hectic. Tilly has fully embraced the festive spirit and has coped really well with the inevitable change in routines and chaos that this time of year brings. I went to my brother and his partners house for Christmas dinner with the rest of the family. Tilly came too, and despite my concerns was impeccably well behaved. She was delighted with the gift that our hosts had left under the tree for her, and slept peacefully whilst we ate dinner. Her only misdemeanour was the theft of a piece of stollen from the coffee table, and I really have to take responsibility for this as I'd seen her eyeing it up earlier in the day, and failed to move it....

Christmas dinner was wonderful, but I had to leave a little earlier than I might have liked to undertake 'chicken duties'. A few days ago I agreed to keep an eye on a neighbours farm whilst they were away over Christmas, and this involved protecting the chickens from the local fox population, as well as ensuring that the cattle didn't escape and run riot in local gardens. All was well when I arrived to shut them in last night - it was rather festive to stumble through the fields by torchlight, and to find the chickens safely in their sheds clucking contentedly as I approached.

Letting them out again this morning was less festive, as I was suffering from a dreadful hangover after some rather late and excessive Christmas drinks with my neighbours last night.

I hope you've all had a happy Christmas.

Happy Christmas Bunty

2007-12-22T15:24:00.000Z

I wandered down to Princes bridge earlier today to put up a wreath that I bought a few weeks ago and to have a chat to the little stinker. I wouldn't like him to think that I'd forgotten him at Christmas. In reality, I can't think of anything else.

Country Life....

2007-12-17T10:25:00.000Z

It's been an eventful week at Trotters' residence. She's been in fine fettle, whilst I've been battling with that high profile medical phenomenon - man-flu. Of course, I'm suffering far more than most....

Now, I'll be the first to highlight the benefits of living in a rural area, but it's not always all it's cracked up to be. Taking aside the sub-zero cottage, poorly maintained roads and limited services, there's also the wildlife to deal with.

I was sitting in the kitchen yesterday morning, bemoaning my poor health and tucking into a medicinal bacon sandwich, when a strange sight caught my eye. My car had been enveloped by an enormous throng of rather feisty looking sheep. As I stood up, I witnessed the spectacle of hundreds of sheep streaming down the drive towards the road. They were very purposeful, and clearly intent on making it to the pub for opening time. As I continued to watch, they got to the end of the drive and promptly turned left - complete with a game auld ewe hobbling along ten minutes after them on three legs, as there always is.

Many frantic phone calls later, I was to be found with four of my close neighbours and the scarlet-faced farmer, standing in the road trying to convince a hundred over-excited sheep that they would really like to retrace their steps and bugger off back into the field they came from. With some rather impressive handling of a quad bike, much swearing, and a lot of arm waving, we succeeded. It was a healthy way to spend a Sunday morning.

I also have livestock problems in the house. And no, I don't mean Tilly. Since my neighbours have acquired two cats, the mice have all decamped to my house. They're quite considerate and only frequent the airing cupboard and loft as far as I can tell, but I can't say they're welcome. For the past few weeks I've been reducing the population with mousetraps and I've been quite pleased with the results. However, mere minutes before 'sheep-gate' yesterday I'd checked the traps with great anticipation. What do I find? A shrew..... Since when did shrews come into houses? Is this unique? Will I find an antelope tomorrow? Bloody hell....

It's hard......

2007-12-10T22:08:00.000Z

......to get a clear action shot of Tilly with a rubbish camera, and an unskilled operative......

Nope, try again.....

and again......

ZOOM, you fool, ZOOM!!

Bugger it, you're too late - I'm having a break.....

Festive Trotter

2007-12-09T17:59:00.001Z

Hmmm, Tilly has yet to get the idea that you open ONE window a day..........

Meanwhile, she tries to look veeerrrry innocent.

Prince had, of course, mastered the terriers art of always looking innocent......

On another festive note, I urge you to have a look at this post. Perhaps I just have a twisted sense of humour, but I found such random inclusions as a nun with a parrot, a pirate snowman, and a cache of weapons quite funny.......

Dishevelled.....

2007-12-08T17:36:00.000Z

I'm feeling somewhat jaded today, having spent last night at that most dreaded occasion - the office Christmas 'do'. Quite why, as a city-based company, our Christmas events are always held in the over-hyped West-end, I do not know. Doing battle with the crowds of tourists, pick-pockets and general detritus of the capital city never seems the greatest idea to me, when there are far better parts of London to go out in. Anyway, the evening consisted of a meal in Chinatown, followed by several Soho bars, and then ending up at the Camouflage Club. All in all, it was tolerable - I conformed by getting reasonably drunk, jigging about on the dancefloor, and pretending I was interested in my colleagues inane ramblings.

Whilst all this was going on, Tilly was in the capable hands of her grandparents. Her leg seems fine now, and she's back to her usual level of exercise, so they've had the unenviable task of walking her in Britains revoltingly wet climate. I'm going to collect her shortly, but by all accounts she's been fine - if slightly mischievous. I'm told that she's been in a certain amount of trouble, firstly for pinching a chicken bone from the kitchen (although no-one can quite work out how she reached it), and secondly for chewing one of the burglar alarm sensors. Thankfully, I have no doubt that by now she will have 'the aulds' comfortably wrapped around her paw once again......

Tagged by the Waggle.....

2007-12-03T23:44:00.000Z

Patience and the whippet waggle have tagged me to give five random facts about myself, so here we go....

Rules:Link to the tagger and post these rules on your blog. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1) I'm so sad that I cook, and vacuum pack, individual portions of carrots and meat for Tillys meals, and used to do the same for Prince.

2) In a similar vein (and partially in answer to one of Fionas previous comments), I must be one of very few single men in their early thirties that prefers a well cut tweed jacket to the latest 'cool' design....

3) I come from a family full of solicitors, yet never considered following the family tradition and considering law as a career. Much to my parents horror, I left school to muck-out horses. I did ultimately return to university a couple of years later, and ride horses purely for recreation now!

4) I have bizarre musical tastes - ranging from Motley Crue to Jamiroquai, and taking in hard house, Mozart and jazz along the way....

5) I'm obsessed with the colour and consistency of dog poop. Of course, all dog owners are though.....

I'm going to tag The Lurchers, and Joker, Herbie, Yogi and Googles parents to do the same....

A Model Hostess....

2007-12-02T20:15:00.000Z

Tilly thoroughly enjoyed entertaining her visitors last night, and was the perfect hostess. She would have made Prince very proud - she's picked up where he left off in terms of making people feel welcome and ensuring they have a smile on their face throughout the evening.

Of course, excitement levels were at +10, and any hope of limiting mobility for the sake of her leg was ditched early on. Thankfully, her leg seems to be getting much better - we're up to two short walks a day now, with her being free to run around like a lunatic on one of them. Thus far she doesn't seem to be suffering any ill-effects. She's still a little frustrated, as this clearly isn't enough exercise for her needs, but hopefully we'll be back to normal in a few days and doing a couple of hours a day.

All in all it was a very pleasant evening. As far as I'm aware, I didn't poison anyone with my food. Nobody came to blows. Tilly didn't steal anything from the table, or wee in the dining room. It was necessary to have a medicinal cognac after they'd all left though......

I'm exhausted today, and Tilly's sulking with me at the moment as I'm having a break from playing ball. I would consider having another game, but if the goddamn-freaking-piece-of-sh*t tennis ball goes under the sofa once more, and requires retrieval, I'll be forced to kill myself.

I've escaped to the computer for some respite. For a little while I've been meaning to link to a couple of blogs I've been enjoying of late. The first, Bona Vacantia, is centred around Joker the lurcher and his family. There's some brilliant photography (what is it that makes lurcher owners so good with a camera?) and they seem a lovely family. The second is about a Westie called Google, hence the blog name - My Life with Google. In typical terrier form, tales of misdemeanor come thick and fast!

TFI Friday.....

2007-11-30T23:09:00.000Z

....for those non-UK based readers, that's 'Thank F**k It's Friday' - although for all I know it may be an internationally known abbreviation.

It's been one heck of a week. Tilly has been grounded, and resting her leg. I must thank everyone for their very useful comments on my previous post as to how to keep her occupied. We've done bits and pieces of training (bits being the operative word), lots of kong stuffing, much waving around of stuffed toys, and a lot of ambling around the house. By the end of the day on Tuesday, I was suffering from serious cabin fever and losing the will to live. Tilly, on the other hand, has coped really well considering her hyperactive nature and hasn't lost her lust for life at all.

I've been giving her Metacam, which could be masking things, but she seems quite sound on the leg now. We've had one or two very short lead walks that she's coped with well, and I'm planning on stopping the Metacam now to see how she gets on. The sooner we can build back up to normal walking, the better!

She spent Wednesday night at her Grandparents house, as I had to attend another awards ceremony. She had a lovely evening, being entertained and spoiled, whilst I had to endure more PR shenanigans. The only two ''famous' faces in attendance were Craig from the original 'Big Brother' series (beyond Z-list by now I would have thought) and Gary Neville (who plays football I understand....) who I'm sure was only there because he lives in a penthouse at the top of the hotel. Beautiful girls were abundant, but unfortunately few had more than three brain cells between them, and none were wearing tweed - which rules them out as future wives........

The 'aulds' and my brother and his partner are coming for dinner tomorrow night. Tilly has been preparing by loosening some hairs to deposit in the main course, and herding all her toys into one place for ease of access.

Prince had a very wiry coat, and his hairs were rarely an issue. Tilly has very silky, fine hair that seems to end up everywhere. Quite how it ends up in the butter dish, all over the sink in the bathroom, and stuck to my monitor screen I do not know......

Vitnery Visits...

2007-11-26T11:18:00.000Z

I took Three-Legged-Trotter (TTT) to the vets this morning. It was absolute chaos - I've never seen so many dogs in a confined space. I think my local surgery is almost too good, in that they will always try and fit you in, and will rarely say that you can't have an appointment the same day. This results in a long wait, and a very busy waiting room, albeit with quite a jolly atmosphere of comradeship.

Unlike Prince, Tilly doesn't mind going to the vets at all. I'd almost go as far as saying she quite enjoys it. I think it was probably a blessed relief from the tedium this morning as well. She greeted all the dogs and their owners in the waiting room, the whole time on three legs. I can see how canine amputees adapt so well to having a limb removed - Tilly's already scooting around nearly as quickly as usual without putting any weight on her back leg.

We saw Ed, who's the chap who diagnosed and looked after Prince before he was referred to the University hospital. He didn't seem overly worried and thinks that she's pulled either the ligament or tendon that runs down the side of her hock. He gave her an anti-inflammatory injection, and me the now familiar bottle of Metacam to administer over the next few days. She needs to rest the leg for the rest of the week, and then start building up her exercise again when she starts putting weight on the leg again. If she's still lame later in the week he'll need to take some x-rays. Of course, the drugs will take a lot of the pain away, so I'm dreading trying to convince her to rest over the next few days.

TTT wasn't at all concerned about the injection, tried to give Ed a thorough gum-washing, and then shot out to the waiting room to greet any new arrivals. She's somewhat deflated now that she's back home with no prospect of walking or proper games.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to keep her mind occupied with minimal physical movement?

Grounded......

2007-11-26T00:29:00.000Z

I have a strong suspicion that Tilly is going to be an accident prone dog. She's been feeling very sorry for herself today after having hurt her leg quite badly whilst out walking this morning. In typical Tilly style, she came flying down a long steep bank at a ridiculous speed and by the time she got to the bottom her rear end had practically overtaken her front end. She hobbled for a couple of steps and then seemed OK. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours sleep when she got home, her hind leg has swelled up and she's putting very little weight on it.

Of course, this means that she hasn't been out for her afternoon walk, her tennis balls have been confiscated to try and discourage her from running around, and she's been bored rigid all day. I feel so sorry for her, and would love to just pick her up and give her a damned good cuddle, but as I've described before, she's not really keen on overt displays of affection. Unless it involves her putting her tongue in your mouth of course.

I'm going to take her to the vets in the morning to try and establish whether it's muscle, tendon, ligament or bone related. I'm pretty sure it's not muscle, as the swelling is on the lower part of the leg, and think it might be a tendon strain. I did speak to the vet earlier and there is a small possibility of a minor fracture, but I think this is very unlikely. She's far less inclined to put weight on it after it's been rested, so my money's on the tendon. In horses, this is bad news, but I'm not sure of the implications for a dog. I really hope it's not something that's going to take a long time to heal - I'm not sure that Tilly or I can cope with a lengthy period of 'house-rest'. We may both go mad.....

My poor girl - it's the same leg that was mangled when she was a stray, and the reason she was picked up by the RSPCA. She's been through quite enough with that leg as far as I'm concerned. Tilly's so chirpy about life that even though she's clearly fed up and bored senseless, she still wags appealingly and tries to gambol around on three legs whenever you speak to her! She really does have a lovely nature.

Incidentally, the ball on Friday night was good fun. It was held at Chester Racecourse, and was a riot of scarlet tail-coats, drunken revellers, and poorly co-ordinated dancing. I'd been up in London all day before travelling back for the evening, and was tired, so I blame this entirely for my slightly 'squiffy' appearance. Of course, Saturday was lost to a dreadful hangover, and only today did I feel vaguely normal again.....

Trotters Travels

2007-11-20T23:17:00.000Z

Tilly has been a true ray of light over the past few months. Carrying on the tradition laid down by Prince, she makes me proud every day. She's had so many new experiences since August, and almost without exception, she takes them in her stride.

As I mentioned in my previous post, she came across some potentially very frightening sights and sounds in Chester last week, but simply continued to wag furiously at any passer-by whose eye she managed to catch. She's getting much better with cows and horses, although we still have some way to go. Her recall is excellent now that I've realised that unlike Prince, who was rarely more than twenty feet away, she regularly explores a good two hundred feet away. As long as it's safe for her to do so, I can let her get on with it and be happy in the knowledge that she'll come flying back as soon as I blow the whistle. She hasn't left any puddles in the house for about a month now. She's a little angel.

One thing that she still enjoys, given half a chance, is a good old smooch with a stranger. Woe betide any person who leans down to say hello on first meeting. A very pleasant lady with two dogs did this only a few days ago, and was handsomely rewarded with a thorough gum-washing, courtesy of Miss Tilly. Unlike her earlier victim, who I posted about here, this recipient seemed to quite enjoy the experience and wasn't at all repulsed. This seemed to make the achievement slightly less satisfying for Tilly, but did save me some embarrassment......

Blurred, but still makes me smile regardless.....!

Flashbacks....

2007-11-20T22:16:00.000Z

Thoughts of Prince are high in my mind every day, but even more so recently. As the Autumn morphs into Winter, and Christmas approaches, virtually everything brings bitter-sweet memories.

I wish I wasn't so bloody fragile. I didn't realise it when I set off into Chester with Tilly last week, but they were switching the town Christmas lights on that night. As Christmas carols drifted through the air I just wanted to die. I was so proud of Tilly though - she trotted happily through crowds, stilt-walkers, merry-go-rounds, and various other alien experiences without any apparent fear.

Reading Fionas post about her experiences with Yogi brought flashbacks of the car-park and waiting room at the hospital where Prince had his chemotherapy. There's a part of me that looks back wistfully at those times - we were together, we were trying to do something, and we were virtually a single entity we were so close. But on the other hand it was the most awful time - filled with fear, despair, and inevitability.

Patience wrote about a dream that she'd had where she was with her first Whippet, who sadly died in 2004. Again, in many respects, I'd love to have a similar dream, but on the other hand I'd have to wake up at some point. I'm not sure I'd ever want to wake up again.

It's Princes birthday on Friday. Well, his 'official' birthday anyway. I've never known when his 'real' birthday is, so I've always celebrated the anniversary of the day I got him as his birthday.
True to his regal roots, he had two birthdays - even if I didn't know when one of them was.

Prince would have been 10 on Friday. Young for a terrier. Virtually middle-aged. He should be here - unwrapping his own presents as usual, and looking forward to more at Christmas.

I'm going to a ball on Friday night and I'm going to try and celebrate his life by being jolly, happy, and the life and soul of the party. It never fails to shock me how lonely you can feel amongst crowds of friends.

Princes Birthday Cake - 2003

Peace & Quiet

2007-11-14T14:23:00.000Z

It's rather peaceful this week, after the frivolity of the awards ceremonies last week. Fortunately, I managed to get through them all without getting too drunk and falling off the stage, abusing any existing clients, or trying to sleep with any prospective clients. There is another one coming up in a couple of weeks time though, so that could all change..... Cue blatantly opportunistic picture of attractive revellers for my under-represented male readers..........

It's great to be back home with Tilly, who's been doing her utmost to keep me entertained since I got back. Wubba, dumbell, Rufus, weasel and a selection of tennis balls have been offered at every opportunity, and I've been bitten and licked to death. It's good to be home.

Group Hug....

2007-11-09T16:26:00.000Z

Whilst I've been moping and feeling sorry for myself over the past few months, there are others who've been going through their own version of hell. I find this sometimes comes as a surprise when you've been busy cocooning yourself in your own woes.

Yogi and Herbie are both suffering from different types of Lymphoma, and their wonderful 'parents' have been riding the rollercoaster of emotion and worry that I became only too familiar with when Prince was diagnosed.

Both Yogi and Herbie sound fantastic, and thankfully both seem to be doing quite well at the moment. I sincerely hope that they both continue doing so well - it's such a devastating thing to go through for all involved. Huge amounts of love and support are flowing in their direction......

I'm hiding in my hotel room at the moment, preparing for another round of PR awards this evening. Thankfully, I've managed to avoid getting too drunk and falling off the stage whilst handing out awards at the events over the past couple of days.

Tilly's been having a wonderful time with my parents while I've been away. I received video evidence yesterday of her running rings around my father in a game of 'ball-on-rope tag'. I'm not sure who'll be more tired when I get home tomorrow - Tilly, or her Grandparents!

Blog Fatigue

2007-11-06T21:31:00.000Z

Sorry I've been so elusive recently.

I'm very tired, annoyingly busy, a bit dejected, lacking inspiration and suffering blog fatigue. I'm also about to go away for a few days to do the 'sponsor' thing at some revoltingly pretentious PR awards. I can't wait. Yeah.....

On a brighter note, the hyperactive eel-hybrid is in fine form. She's being a little angel as ever....

Back soon - refreshed and invigorated!

and out of the mist came.........
aaaarrrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

A Quarter of a Year....

2007-10-27T22:28:00.000+01:00

It's been three months to the day that I last picked my little boy up and kissed his wiry little face. People tell you that it gets easier with time. It does, for a day or two at a time, until you see something, smell something, or think of something that transports you back to a time when such pain seemed inconceivable.

Before Tilly had her second snout incident earlier, we had walked down a set of wooden steps set in a gentle slope towards a stream. It was a place I'd walked with Prince many, many, times. Without exception he would set off down these steps at full pelt, eager with the anticipation of splashing in the stream below. I've seen him paddle in this stream so many times, and I've hurried down after him every time to check that all's well at the bottom - yet today the water remained still when I got there. It doesn't get easier with time. Time might dull the pain every now and again, but it certainly doesn't make it easier or better.

The rather fuzzy picture above was taken days after Princes 'human-mother' and I collected him. We went through a short period of taking polaroid pictures of him with random notes that he 'had written'. As you can see from his face, although he was not a great fan of this game, he played along nonetheless.

He was much darker when he was very young, although the quality of the picture does make him look even more so. He had a particularly dark patch on his side that I spent at least an hour trying to scrub off in the bath when we first got him - before realising it was his natural colouring.....

Dangerous Creatures

2007-10-27T21:59:00.000+01:00

Tillys snout has once again been subject to attack by an unidentified third party. This time, the I suspect the offender to have been a squirrel or badger. I'm erring on the side of a squirrel at the moment, as it probably would have been a lot worse had it been a badger.

Out on our walk this afternoon she'd been racing around with a new group of dogs and was having a fantastic time. Such a good time that it had become quite dark before we began to head back, with one of her new-found friends, and I'd put her flashing collar on so that I could keep an eye on her whilst she continued to play. The next minute she shot off into the undergrowth, very close to a barbed wire fence, and then I heard her cry out. I called her and she came flying back. In the semi-darkness I couldn't see any obvious injuries, and was enormously relieved that her eyes looked fine.

When I got back to better light she had a big blob of blood on the bridge of her nose, almost exactly where the previous injury was just beginning to disappear. Running from it, almost down to her mouth, was a deep scratch. At this stage I thought she must have run into the barbed wire, in pursuit of something small and furry, but on later inspection I could see another scratch very close to it that would suggest that her quarry had been cornered and fought back. Perhaps suprisingly, I think squirrels can be quite feisty when cornered. Thank goodness it didn't get her eye - one of my biggest fears. Of course, she is totally unfazed by this and has been buzzing around ever since. She's quite looking forward to showing Angus her scars and showing off about how tough she is.....

The picture above may look quite sweet, but the reality was that we'd been play-fighting and she was biting me at the time! Tilly is so active that I have to take advantage and 'get hold of her' for a kiss when she's otherwise engaged. This was taken a few hours before the second 'snout issue' of recent times.....

2007-10-24T21:58:00.000+01:00

Tilly's just been watching 'The Nature of Britain', and she was particularly enthralled by the rutting stags at Richmond Park, and the parakeets that have taken up residence in a number of other London parks.

She's generally quite impressed with wildlife at the moment, particularly the local squirrel population. My garden (yes Em, it is my garden in the photographs below - you can tell by the weeds!), backs onto a small wood that's absolutely teeming with squirrels at the moment. At any opportunity Tilly is flying up the garden in hot pursuit. There's no great danger in her doing this - there are no roads in that direction, but I do get nervous whenever she's out of sight. She's so damned quick that you only need blink and she's disappeared......

She's been very good this week though. I've been quite busy, and had to go out quite a lot, and she's dealt with it well. I think she was concerned that I'd become a rampant cocaine addict when I arrived back in yesterday, with my face covered in white powder, but I'd been to the dentist to have my teeth 'sandblasted' with bicarbonate of soda. I got a few funny looks in the shop I called into on the way home too.

I'm exhausted today. We were up before the sun this morning - which isn't early for many, but certainly is for me. I had a couple of early meetings and taking Tilly for a quick dash around the block before work simply isn't an option, so we had to get up in time to go for a good hour-long hike as usual. Scenting conditions were very good due to the frost and early hour - so she dashed around following trails happily. I blearily stumbled after her, intermittently swearing, falling over logs, and straining to see her in the distance.

The house was in one piece when I got back from the utterly tedious and unproductive meetings, so she remains in good books. Another two walks, and a lot of ball-playing later, I haven't got a shred of energy left. And guess what? She's asleep.......

Peas in a Pod...

2007-10-21T23:01:00.000+01:00

Funny Face

2007-10-21T22:43:00.000+01:00

I'll be in dreadful trouble with Tilly for posting this rather unflattering picture, but I thought it was quite comical. She was mid-sneeze when it was taken...!

You'll note that she's also been chewing a stick in the photograph. To me, this is fairly typical of dogs in general - you provide an unlimited range of rawhide treats, and the pooch chooses a stick from the garden to chew instead.....

With the exception of rawhide, which was always gratefully accepted, Prince was the same. Over the years, hundreds of expensive dog toys were purchased and offered with a flourish. Hundreds of dogs toys were then destroyed in a matter of seconds before being discarded for good. The best toys were always, in order of preference - me ('Daddy-Kong'), and an old sock tied up with a ball at the end. I'd give anything to see him now, sitting in the middle of piles of toy-stuffing, usually with a bit sticking out of his mouth, wondering what Daddy was going to do to entertain him next.

Little & Large

2007-10-18T23:42:00.000+01:00

All is quiet in the house as I write. 'Trotter' is upside down, asleep, with her head under the cushion. She's been in bad books today after leaving yet another puddle in the dining room last night. The dining room is quickly becoming her own personal latrine - free from the autumnal draughts of the garden, and conveniently close to the kitchen and its culinary delights. I'll boot her all around the bloody garden if I catch her relieving herself a foot from my dining table again.....

I took her to Tatton Park today, to meet up with 'Grandma' for a walk. She was very well behaved, and had a jolly good run around with a fellow pooch of dubious parentage. Mother barely got a look-in with Tilly who was in 'canine athlete' mode, and interested only in rushing around like her life depended on it. Regardless of how much she does during her afternoon walk, she's never tired when she gets home. After her morning walk she always passes out for an hour or two, but there's no such respite later in the afternoon. She continues to buzz around like a fly in a jar until about nine o'clock, when she admits defeat and falls asleep.

The 'Little and Large' title refers to my neighbours comical duo of dogs - a flat coat retriever and a miniature schnauzer. The retriever is a youthful lunatic - boisterous, yet very amiable. The schnauzer is much older, wiser and incredulous at the antics of his older brother. I had the unenviable task of letting them both out yesterday afternoon, as my neighbours were due to be out until early evening. I had great concerns about the retriever heading for the hills, but thankfully I managed to fulfil my duty without major incident. I took a quick photograph of each of them....

Tosca - complete with almost permanently 'inside-out' ears....

Tudwall - decidedly unimpressed with his brothers antics.....

Four Legged Fiends

2007-10-17T13:15:00.000+01:00

Tilly was faced not only by horses, but also by cows on this mornings walk. Neither are her favourite things, and both species tend to trigger a round of growling and barking. She sees lots of them most days - but doesn't seem to be improving. This is a little frustrating, as I ride horses and we live in an area with an enormous number of cows. Oh well, I guess perseverence is the key...

We're waiting for the horses to move, the horses are waiting for the cows to move, and god only knows what the bloody cows were waiting for!

She also met her enormous pack this morning, but we moved on fairly quickly as a couple of new-comers had thrown the pecking order out slightly and a few squabbles were breaking out amongst the others. We decided to cut and run before a monumental fight broke out.......

Weekend Round-up

2007-10-15T12:41:00.000+01:00

One of the problems I have as a result of living where I do is that in the Winter you can't really walk after dark. It's not that there are yobs on every corner - it's because there are no pavements and no streetlights. Country lanes in the dark aren't much fun - especially when an idiot in a BMW comes flying around a blind bend on his shortcut home from work.

To get around this problem I have a few 'urban' walks that I used to do with Prince that I'll soon have to employ with Tilly on dark nights. One of my favourites is a walk that takes in the ancient Roman walls of Chester, and the racecourse there - which is open to all outside of race days. Tilly is much happier with traffic now, but I still thought it would be better to try the walk in daylight first, so I took her there on Friday. Of course, it brought back lots of memories of walking there with Prince, and eating ice-creams by the river, which was hard, but Tilly made me really proud. She was fine with the traffic, grinned and wagged appealingly at every passer-by just like Prince used to do, and did her best to emulate a racehorse approaching the finishing post at the racecourse..... On Saturday I made a pilgrimage to Princes Bridge to spend some time with him alone and consider what to have put on the plaque I'm planning to put there. I'm still not sure, but I'm sure it'll come to me in time. I'll bet no more than five people cross the bridge each day, but the last couple of times I've been, someone has always wandered across as I'm sitting there with a face like a sodden tomato. It's deeply embarrassing - I may have to fabricate a fake sign saying 'footpath closed' for future use!

I took Tilly to my parents house on Saturday evening whilst I went for dinner to celebrate my brothers birthday. She continued her charm assault, didn't pee in the house, and cemented her position as new 'grand-daughter'.

I'm going out to a meeting at one of my favourite places tonight (The Swan Hotel in Tarporley), so she'll be on her own for a few hours. I'm sure she'll be fine, but one thing I have been worrying about recently is whether I'm making a rod for my own back by letting her into the garden to go to the toilet too regularly. She normally goes out every couple of hours or so, and I'm wondering whether I should try and increase the time between visits. Of course, I don't want her to be uncomfortable or hold onto it for an unhealthy amount of time, but I wonder whether I'm 'training' her to need to go out too often. From a practical perspective, two hours isn't long and there'll be many times when I won't be around to let her out at such a short interval, and she gets through an eight hour stint overnight without a problem, so should I increase the frequency during the day? She's only just over twelve months old of course, but your advice would be appreciated.....

Writers Block

2007-10-11T23:47:00.000+01:00

I'm lacking blogging inspiration at the moment, hence the sparsity of my posts over the past week or so. Thanks for the comments in response to my previous post though - it seems that we're all screwed-up, although I suspect that the degree varies wildly....

Little of note has happened of late a la maison du Tilly. Alas, she has failed to achieve full tongue-on-tooth action with any strangers over the past few days, but has consoled herself by taking me by surprise on a few occasions. Snout is returning to normal, but will undoubtedly be stung or bitten again soon if she continues to ram it into crevices in the garden with impunity.

A recent post of Ems made me laugh, as I'd always thought I had the most idiotic and embarrassing range of nicknames for Prince, and now Tilly. It appears I may have competition.
Here's a small selection of Princes nicknames:-

Leetle (His main nickname, morphed from being called 'Little Dog' in his younger days.)
Bunty
Runty
Orange Dog
Baby Cherub
Stinker
Tinky
Little Sausage
Mr Doo-Dandy (God only knows where that one came from!)
Windy Miller
Doglet & Buggalugs (Both shared with Mollie I see!)
Sweetpie (Criiiiiiinge!)
Creature (In the nicest way!)

And Tilly has already inspired a range of strange nicknames:-

Trotter (Currently number one nickname....)
Tilly Tops
Tilly Billy
Baby Eel
Baby Bird
Birdy Face
Horror-Bag (only used affectionately!)

I'm sure there are more, but they've slipped my mind. Which probably isn't a bad thing.....

Dull, Dull, Dull...

2007-10-07T21:59:00.000+01:00

There's not a lot to report from the Tilly-household I'm afraid. Tillys snout is recovering but still very obviously swollen. She met Angus this morning, who thankfully seemed unconcerned that his girlfriend appears to be growing an additional nose, and clambered all over her joyously.

I was far less than joyous to discover that she'd had a wee in the dining room this afternoon. Especially as she'd had one in the garden only an hour before, and I was in the next room at the time. The little bugger made no attempt to alert me to the fact that she needed to go out. I don't know why she has these occasional lapses. Anyway, I didn't catch her 'in the act' so there was nothing I could do but mop it up and carry on as normal.

I'm not sure what 'normal' is anymore though. I've come to the conclusion that I'm totally screwed-up. I've never been a particularly straightforward person (although I'm a good actor), but I've reached new levels of screwed-up-ness over the past couple of months. I wish I was artistic, then I could opt out of reality and be enormously successfully screwed up. Why is it only artists who can capitalise on going mad?

Nosey...

2007-10-05T13:23:00.000+01:00

Alas, the snout is no better. I'm pretty sure it's been stung or bitten by something and it remains rather swollen and grim-looking. To make matters worse, it would seem that when Tilly bites down on a tennis ball, the pressure forces some of the fluid out so she ends up with little beads of it all over the lump. She met Angus (one of her boyfriends) this morning and was not at all pleased that he saw her looking less than her best. He was unconcerned though, as he had a stick, which was infinitely more interesting than Tilly. Rejected and suffering from a swollen nose - Tilly's not having a good day!

It's not getting any bigger, isn't affecting her breathing, and doesn't seem to be bothering her unduly, so I'm going to give it a little time. I don't see any need to start rushing her down to the vets so I think we'll just see how she gets on.....

Out and A-Snout

2007-10-04T16:20:00.000+01:00

Poor little Tilly has a very mangled nose today. I think she's been bitten or stung by something, but I'm really not sure. I didn't notice it when I first let her out this morning, which doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't there as she's a bit of a blur first thing, but it was very obvious after she'd had her breakfast. It's really quite odd - I wasn't sure whether she'd bashed it overnight at first, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case now as it's not sore or grazed. She's got a big, obvious lump made up a few other little lumps, right on the 'bridge' of her nose. It seems to be a little itchy and over the past couple of hours some of the smaller lumps have started to ooze a clear / red fluid. I now strongly suspect that she shoved her nose into a shrub before breakfast and something (plant or insect) took exception to this. It looks decidedly grizzly now and she won't let me post a close up photograph as it ruins her usual good-looks. If it's not gone down by tomorrow I'll have to take her to the vets in case she needs some antihistamines or other treatment for it, but I think it just needs a little time.

She also frightened me to death this morning whilst we were out walking by disappearing for no apparent reason. It's the most awful realisation that you've no idea where your dog is, and that they're not responding to your calls. Thankfully she reappeared a few minutes later, but I was starting to worry. This leads me to ask the question - if your dog disappears whist you're on a walk - is it best to stay where you last saw them, or start scouring the surrounding area?

This afternoon she's taken to replicating another of Princes behaviours - lolling around on her (his?) bed on the bench. I understand that she's discussed this with him and he has no objections.....

He said I could - honestly!

Anyway, for the second day on the run I've achieved very little work-wise, so must tie a few things up before the end of the day.....

Home Sweet Home

2007-10-02T22:45:00.000+01:00

It's so good to be back at home with Tilly. She's had a wonderful time at my parents house by all accounts - with lots of cuddles, lovely walks and games. I thought her tummy looked a little pronounced as she trotted back into the house this evening, but I'm sure that must have been a trick of the light. I did note, however, that one of the first things she did upon arrival was trot back into the kitchen from the sitting room, and sniff pointedly at her food cupboard. Hmmm, has Grandpa been overdoing things on the food front I wonder?

Another reason I had to smile when she arrived home was that Prince appears to have taught her another of his favourites - the ritual chewing of a bone as soon as he arrived back from his Grandparents house. Regardless of how late it was, how tired he might be, or anything else, Prince always wanted to chew a bone before he settled down for the night. Tilly's never been a huge rawhide fan, although she does enjoy one every now and again - usually tucked away in the corner, out of sight. This evening, she showed great interest as I unpacked a bone from her 'overnight bag', so I offered it to her. She took it straight to the middle of the rug and proceeded to enthusiastically chew it to completion. She'll be cocking her leg next if Prince has his way!

I can't say I enjoyed my trip up to London, but it was tolerable. The pressure's already on, and the drinking culture unchanged, but I managed to escape unscathed. I sloped off early from the pub last night, so at least I managed to avoid a terrible hangover today.

After the flights both in and out were delayed I've vowed never to fly to London again. There's another reason why I'd rather not fly at the moment, and that's the strange effect it seems to have on my emotions. I've been fairly composed over the past couple of weeks about Prince, but from the moment the plane took off yesterday morning I was really struggling to hold back the tears. I don't know whether it's the enforced time to think, fatigue, or the poignancy of the planes progress through the clouds - but I had to really fight not to make a fool of myself in public. I'm not ashamed to show emotion, but a be-suited man weeping openly on a plane is a step too far.... I was exactly the same flying back this evening. Of course, I was in a terrible state flying to France and back soon after he was put down, but I was far more raw at that time so it was a little more understandable. It's odd how certain situations can trigger such a strong response. Although I can assure you that I'm not in any way suicidal, I also found it quite un-nerving that I was sitting there thinking about, and almost hoping for, the plane to plummet to the ground. Deeply worrying - I think I shall avoid aviation for some time!

On a much brighter note, I'm posting a couple of photographs below - one showing the scene from my hotel window last night, and by way of contrast, one showing how Tilly spent the day today. There's really no competition is there?!

Looking down Moorgate.....

C'mon Grandpa - throw the ball!!!

Tilly-less Again....

2007-10-01T00:18:00.000+01:00

Tilly's at my parents house again, as I have to go to London first thing in the morning until Tuesday evening. I believe she settled down well, but of course I'm still worrying about her.

Oh, the joys of being back at work. I'll have to get up at 'stupid-o-clock' in the morning to catch my flight to City airport and spend the day bored rigid in the office, with people who I get on with fine, but have virtually nothing but an employer in common with. I will then be obliged to accompany said colleagues to a trendy bar for the evening and pretend to be having a great night. Tuesday will be a repeat of Monday, but with the added delight of a hangover. I suspect the highlight of the trip will be checking in for the return flight.....

I'll post a Tilly report at some point tomorrow if I can.....

Now, where's Daddy gone?

Oh, and just because I feel like it - a picture of my little boy.....

Catching up.....

2007-09-28T21:43:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry if I've been a little elusive over the past few days - it's been a busy time. And I've just read that Flowerpot has very kindly awarded me a 'You Make Me Smile' award!! Thank-you so much! Every time I've made people smile in the past it's turned out to be a little trapped wind, so if this case is different, and doesn't require a dose of Gaviscon, I'm delighted....

I think I should now pass the award onto three others, and they are, in no particular order - Mollies Blog and Blogs from the Dogs. My final choice is Oscars Blog, which, rather like this one, has been very sad, but hearing of an imminent new arrival made me smile - and Oscar too no doubt.....

Tilly thoroughly enjoyed her stay at my parents house earlier in the week, and seems to have allayed any fears about her behaviour and energy levels. She behaved impeccably throughout, with the exception of the minor 'pee' incident. Mother didn't seem to appreciate it when I suggested that Tilly clearly thinks that her house smells of wee, hence her contribution.

Yesterday morning I took Tilly out on our usual walk, and she was overjoyed to find the whole 'pack' out and about. At one stage there were fourteen dogs of various breeds and sizes marauding about. Tilly had an absolute whale of a time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it too. There's something so uplifting about seeing such a large group of dogs doing just what dogs enjoy doing, and getting on so well in the process. Clearly the pecking order is fully established. I'm not sure the couple of joggers we encountered on the way around felt the same way - they looked somewhat intimidated to see a great swathe of dogs approaching at speed!

Today was officially my first day back at work, although I spent all of it working from home trying to familiarise myself with all the developments and changes since I left. Tilly was very well behaved and seemed resigned to the fact that I'd eventually have to rouse myself and earn some tennis balls. Tennis balls are her currency, in the same way that bones were Princes currency.

After much consideration, and assistance from Tilly on the map-reading front, we decided to walk at a friends farm this afternoon. One of the downsides of living in Cheshire is that as a dairy county, you can rarely escape the cows - and with Tilly this isn't ideal. Thankfully, my friends farm is one of the rare arable holdings in the area, so with the exception of a lot of horses, livestock wasn't an issue. She had a great time, and we're now both falling asleep on the sofa....

The Amazing Map-Reading Dog.....

Tilly-less

2007-09-25T23:45:00.000+01:00

Tilly is staying at my parents house tonight, as a 'practise-run' for when I have to go up to London for a couple of days next week to ease myself back into the world of work.

Excitement levels were off the scale as usual when she arrived, and she spent much of the evening harrassing my father in the kitchen. He's like the bloody 'pied piper' of the dog world - although he substitutes the tin whistle for the contents of the fridge.

I spoke to 'Grandma' after I got home, and believe she's settled down well, so that's a good sign. Especially considering that she'd had a pee on the carpet in the dining room before I left. This was very strange, considering that she'd had one in the garden only an hour before, and has been to my parents house a good few times before. Oh well, perhaps we were giving off 'vibes' that something slightly different was going to happen later in the evening - like me disappearing without her. She hasn't spent more than a few hours away from me since I got her, so it is quite a big step.

I'm sure she'll be fine though, and hopefully it will put my mothers mind at rest. I think she's petrified at the thought of dealing with Tillys high energy levels and youthful exhuberance. Whilst these things are very real, they're also a joy, and she counters them with a very good understanding of 'down time' and general good behaviour. I think they'll all get on famously.

Tomorrow will be spent cleaning the house from top to bottom, doing a few things that are slightly 'Tilly incompatible', and a paying a visit to the bridge to spend some quality time with Prince.

All being well, and subject to me not having received an exasperated telephone call from my parents at 4am, I'll collect Tilly tomorrow evening......

Ramblings...

2007-09-23T22:34:00.002+01:00

It's one of those days when I don't really have a specific topic to post about, but feel like posting anyway - so I'll apologise in advance. Sorry.

I may not be the only one with nothing of great note to blog about - the blogosphere seems generally quiet at the moment. Many of my favourite bloggers haven't posted for a while, and I do hope they find inspiration again soon.

Tilly is continuing to do really well. Her recall is improving every day, and we haven't had any serious issues since this post. She's really enjoying catching up with her 'pals' every morning. This morning there was a new member of the pack - a tiny twelve week old puppy. He was a Pomeranian crossed with a poodle, and outrageously cute. Tilly dutifully clambered all over him, batted him around and ensured his socialisation got off to a good start!

Prince continues to be with us in spirit, and I'm sure he really helps Tilly. It makes me laugh sometimes - I can almost see him scuttling alongside her on our old familiar walks. Tilly always seems to know the route to take, even if she hasn't been somewhere before - and it's almost invariably the route I used to take with Prince. It's so hard retracing our steps sometimes, but after a few initial tears I usually remind myself that it would be highly inappropriate to be miserable on a walk that he used to enjoy so much.

I'm going back to work at the end of next week, and utterly dreading it. There are a number of reasons why I feel sick at the very thought of it.

Firstly, I'm worried how I'll cope with work and making sure that Tilly is adequately exercised and stimulated. Even though I work from home most of the time, it's inevitable that she won't get quite the same amount of attention that she's been used to.

There's also the fact that I despise the job I'm going back to. My employers have been very understanding in letting me return after having taken so much time off to look after Prince, and the people I work with are a generally decent bunch, but it doesn't change the fact that I hate the job I do with a passion. It's a high level sales role, and as such comes with enormous pressure. The sort of pressure that leaves you spending the last week of every month thinking that you're going to be sacked. The pressure is only likely to be greater when I go back, as I now 'owe them' even more, due to the time I've taken off. The only reason I'm going back is because it pays very well, and I need a hefty salary to cover the enormous debts I've built up over the years. Cause and effect eh!

Probably my biggest worry is the least tangible, and will probably sound the most odd. I really don't know how I'll cope with the pressure and problems of day to day life without Prince being physically with me. When he was, I always felt invincible. Anything was possible, as long as 'us boys' were together. We had plenty of rough times over the years, and I always used to say to him, "we'll manage - we always do" - and invariably we did. I don't quite know how I'll cope now. I suppose I'll have to cope for Tillys sake, but I've never felt less invincible than I do nowadays.....

Mr & Mrs...

2007-09-20T22:50:00.000+01:00

I find it quite fascinating just how different Prince and Tilly are. There are a few similarities (four legs, hairy face etc...), but other than that they're pretty different. I'm noting these things in a positive way - when I decided to get another dog I was adamant that I wouldn't try and 'replace' Prince, because he's irreplaceable and it would place deeply unfair expectations on the other dog.

And I succeeded - in many ways they're like chalk and cheese.

Prince adored cuddles and being picked up and carried around. Tilly has her 'soft' moments, but they're far fewer. To Tilly, being picked up is just an opportunity to stick her tongue in your ear and wriggle free.

Prince would politely chase something you threw for him, but certainly wouldn't consider bringing it back. Tilly on the other hand will chase and retrieve all day given the chance.

Tilly will actually play with toys. Princes prime objective when given a toy was to 'kill it'. That'll be the terrier then.....

Given the choice between a new tennis ball and a treat, Tilly would choose the ball. Prince would take the treat, half your hand, and the ball for good measure.

As far as Prince was concerned, mornings were for sleeping, cuddling and eating. Tilly thinks mornings are for running, playing and chasing balls.

Prince was of course, a boy. Consequently, if it stood still long enough he would wee on it. Tilly is of course, a girl. She wees when she needs to.

Prince would spend hours chewing and relishing rawhide bones. Tilly would rather spend hours chasing a ball, or chewing daddy.

It's good that they both have distinct personalities, quirks and characters. I miss Prince terribly, but Tilly and the new qualities she brings do help to make it bearable.

Bones for Prince.....

Balls for Tilly.....

Selective Deafness...

2007-09-17T22:06:00.000+01:00

What was it that inspired red steaming rage in me today? Global warming? World poverty? The decline of global finance markets?

No, the refusal of a small black dog to return to me on request. What is it about blatant disobedience and selective deafness in dogs that causes us humans such annoyance? I suspect an evolution obsessed with power, dominance and expectation.

It's quite rare that Tilly utterly ignores me now, but there was one incidence of this on this afternoons walk. It always follows the same formula:-

1) Tilly bounds off in search of squirrels, playmates, rotting delicacies or a lost chicken.

2) I cheerily blow on the whistle and call a melodic, "Tilly, come!".

3) A scrawny black tail continues to disappear into the distance.

4) I blow the whistle with a little more urgency and inject a touch more authority into the command.

5) The scrawny black tail is now out of sight.

6) The whistle is blown like that of the 10:14 to Bangor. The bellowing of non-official commands begins, such as, "get here!", "come here!", "Tilly, cooooommmmmeeee!"

7) The area is declared as dog-free.

8) A small man is witnessed jumping up and down with rage, screaming a range of obscenities that would shame a sailors convention.

9) Tilly returns nochalently, wondering what all the noise is about.

10) I take deep breaths, try to sound pleased to see her, and praise her liberally through gritted teeth. I try to hide the fact that my gut instinct would be to pick her up by the tail and swing her around my head a few times, before letting go.

11) Treats are dispensed.

12) Tillys lead is applied firmly, and I vow never to remove it again.

13) I feel guilty for restricting her, and remove the lead.

14) The process begins again.

Is it just me?

Tilly Kisses

2007-09-14T23:13:00.000+01:00

Tilly has a rather embarrassing tendency to offer 'special kisses' to anyone prepared to accept them. Unfortunately, she doesn't always wait to see if the target is prepared to accept such intimacy at their first meeting.

Take the unsuspecting middle-aged lady she met this morning as an example. The lady in question was lovely, walking two English setters, and certainly not prudish. However, she made the mistake of leaning over Tilly to say hello - an action that in Tillys mind is a green-light for a full-on snog. So, before the poor lady could do anything about it, Tilly had leapt up and joyously forced her tongue into the somewhat stunned ladies mouth.

After much spitting, rubbing of her mouth with a sleeve, and apologies from me, the recipient of Tillys greeting moved on with considerable poise, but a certain urgency.

I keep trying to explain that this is not a socially acceptable way of conducting oneself, but Tilly doesn't seem to understand. She achieved her number one objective this morning, but nearly as satisfying is achieving full tongue on ear or nostril contact. This is quite sweet, but I fear may not be appreciated by all recipients.

Tilly spent the rest of the morning considering my pearls of wisdom......

Tagged....

2007-09-13T16:04:00.000+01:00

I've been tagged by Em & Mollie to play the 'word game'. I believe the rules are as follows:-

Players must list one fact, word, or tidbit that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of your first or middle name.
When you are tagged you need to write your own post containing your first or middle name game facts, word, or tidbit.
At the end of your post choose one person for each letter of your name to tag.
Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them that they have been tagged, and to read your blog.

Now, I'm not sure whether I should be using my name, or Princes, or Tillys. Being the idle b*gger I am, my first instinct was to use Tilly as her name is shortest. However, perhaps predictably, I'm going to use Prince.

So here we go....

P - Is for 'po-face', which he could generate at will to demonstrate his displeasure should things not be going his way. Within seconds of said displeasure being resolved, his adorable face would return!

R - Is for 'rudy-roo', which is an odd, made-up name that developed over the years for his bottom. It was employed in many ways, for example - 'roo-pops' (flatulence) and 'rudy-issues' (either gland problems, or an errant clingon).

I - Is for 'indeterminate breeding'. Over his entire life everyone who met Prince had a different view as to what breeds he was made up of. I think patterdale cross border, but frankly don't care. He was the best canine creation possible as far as I'm concerned.

N - Is for napping. A pastime Prince enjoyed increasingly over the years. Usually employed flat-out and with great pleasure, but could be employed when po-faced (see above) in a fully curled up position - usually if daddy had failed to meet his expectations!

C - Is for companionship - one of many things that Prince excelled at. He invariably liked to 'help' with whatever activity was taking place, whether it be digging in the garden, cooking in the kitchen, or exploring a new town. He was constantly at my feet, through great times, terrible times, and everything in-between. He was, and is, the best friend I could wish for.

E - Is for eating. Another one of Princes favourite pastimes. His favourites included sausages, warm chicken from the oven, ice-cream by the river, and anything cooked by my father. Despite his love of food he had very good table manners. You could leave anything on the table, and regardless of whether he could reach it, he'd never pinch it without permission. He also had a rather embarrassing (but good) habit of refusing anything offered to him by someone he didn't know.....

Okey-doke. I believe I need to tag five other bloggers to do the same so I'll nominate our pals over at Blogs from the Dogs, Linda, Watson and Waldo, Bailey (if his Mum has time to help!),
Balboa, and our friendly Lurchers.

Brotherly Love....

2007-09-12T13:05:00.000+01:00

I took Tilly to Tatton Park yesterday, one of Princes favourite places and where the picture to the right was taken during one of his best days whilst he was undergoing treatment.

The first five minutes were spent trying to see the path through the floods of tears. I cheered up when I realised that Prince was very much with us, and already leading Tilly towards the best rabbiting spots. The photograph below shows an apprentice Tilly trying to emulate her brother.

She had a great time, and we managed not to chase any deer - so it was a highly successful walk. She was somewhat tired afterwards.....

I've been tagged by Emma & Mollie! Don't worry, I'll be playing the 'name game' in my next post.....

Memory Lane (11)

2007-09-12T12:46:00.000+01:00

Looking at my last post, it reminded me that as much as I miss Prince, he wasn't an angel all the time. Being a typical terrier, he had a rather willful streak and could be a real b*gger at times! He was prone to obsessions - whether this be a particular bush that he'd found a rabbit in once, or a particular type of rawhide bone that he'd taken a liking to. Once an obsession was established, it could take weeks before he'd move on to the next one.

Rather like Tilly, he didn't always welcome his 'guinea sisters' particularly warmly. On the odd occasion when he escaped into the garden when they were in their run, he would chase around the outside at break-neck speed - causing them to whizz around the inside, doing a very good impression of the 'wall of death' stunt.... Ultimately, he didn't have a huge amount of respect for the piglets when he was staying at his Grandparents house....

He was never a fan of 'small furries' and would do his utmost to get to a cat, or a guinea pig, or a rabbit. We had a few 'issues' with cats. Very soon after I got him he managed to scale the garden fence and chase my neighbours cat around the garden. The cat, quite sensibly, headed for the cat flap in the back door, but didn't bargain on Prince trying to follow it in at high speed and getting his head stuck in it.... There was also the time when I opened my back door to find the aforementioned cat having a sh*t in my border. Prince did a double-take and lunged at it - removing a chunk of orange hair from its rear end, but thankfully doing no further harm. I don't think the cat availed itself upon our facilities again.

There were also his more endearing foibles, like his love of warm human beds, and long lie-ins. My mother caught the picture below soon after she'd got out of bed when he was staying with 'the aulds'. Clearly he didn't feel it was time to rise and shine....

There's no point me pretending that he didn't drive me crazy at times. He was remarkably well behaved for a terrier though, and I think I sometimes took this forgranted. Hindsight can be a great thing or a terrible thing, and I know now that I'd give anything for him to be next to me, doing the naughtiest thing he could think of. It would be a small price to pay.

Sisterly Love

2007-09-10T13:17:00.000+01:00

Tilly and I have guests at the moment - in the rather small and squeaky form of my parents guinea pigs. We're looking after them whilst they're away.

It took Tilly a while to realise they were here, and when she did - she welcomed them by barking at them loudly. I'm glad they're out of reach - otherwise it might be carnage.....

Wait! - What's that?!!

Your days are numbered, piglets....!

Busy, Busy, Busy.....

2007-09-09T21:48:00.000+01:00

Lap(top) Dog

I've been very lax on the blogging front over the past few days, and have no excuse other than the fact that I've been busy and consequently knackered. Not an excuse that would wash with a mother trying to juggle two toddlers, four dogs and a part-time job, I accept - but true nontheless!

On Friday I combined Tilly's two hours of exercise, numerous ball games and collie-fun with riding three horses one after another. A friend of mine has recently become a staff-member short and asked for some help exercising the horses, hence my burst of activity. I haven't ridden so many horses in quick succession for a long time, and in conjunction with running around after Tilly, it left me flattened that evening.

I spent most of yesterday talking to Blackberry technical support, trying to sort out the 'Crackberry' problems I've been having over the past week, whilst simultaneously thowing balls for the Fruitbat.

Today has been slightly more relaxed, and Tilly has continued to be an angel. Her recall's slowly improving, which gives me a bit of a break and her far more fun when she's off the lead. She's also now part of a big group of doggy friends - we meet most mornings as we all walk at a similar time. It's a real motley crew, incorporating several terriers, a couple of labradors, two collie-crosses and a range of crossbreeds. She gets on with them all really well, and it's great for her to be running with 'the pack' most days.

The latest issue of 'Dogs Today' came out yesterday, and includes my final piece about Prince. It was heartbreaking to read it again, but it was so well presented and sensitively edited as usual that it made it a lot easier. The editorial team at Dogs Today are a really lovely and very talented team. I also received a cheque, which I've decided to use to pay for a plaque for Princes Bridge. Any excess will be donated to Milton Keynes Pet Rescue, where I got Prince from all those years ago.

Memory Lane (10)

2007-09-06T14:03:00.000+01:00

The plaque I had ordered for Princes bench in the garden arrived today. It's small and understated, and says all I needed it to say.

Prince and I spent many happy hours lounging around on the bench in the garden. He'd wait for me to go and get his bed from the back of the car, and as soon as I'd carefully placed it on the bench (on his side of course), he'd hop straight up and settle down. He was a real 'outdoorsy' dog, and even if he wasn't doing anything in particular, he always preferred to be in the garden.

As long as it wasn't actually raining, and occassionally even if it was, we would spend time surveying the scene from the bench. I would read, stroke Prince with my free hand, and drink countless cups of tea. Prince would doze, chase the daring rabbits if they tried to break cover, and intermittently blow down the mouse holes to see if anything popped out of the other end.

I chose not to plant a tree in his memory, or anything plant related, as I have such an ability for flattening the most hardy specimens. I simply couldn't bear it if something I planted for him started to go downhill. I may plant some daffodil bulbs around the bench this year, but purely based on the expectation that the squirrels will probably have removed them by Spring. Prince thought daffodils were excellent to wee on, and had a slight obsession with sticking his face in them - before he urinated on them thankfully.

I'm considering putting another plaque on the bridge that I visit to talk to him, but I need to establish who it belongs to first, and ask their permission. I would hate to blunder up there one day, tears streaming down my face as ever, to find it had been removed.

Ah, my baby. My little cherub.

One step forwards.....

2007-09-05T23:41:00.000+01:00

.......and two steps backwards.

At least, that's what it feels like sometimes. I thought I was coming to terms with not having Prince physically with me, but the last couple of days have been really hard. I don't really know why I seem to have taken a backward step, but I suppose that grief is an unpredictable bitch. I miss everything about him, and the future still looks very, very, bleak without him. I'm dreading going back to work without him to give me the strength to cope with the (many) bad days, I'm dreading the onset of a beautiful Autumn, and I'm really dreading Christmas.

The only glimmer of light is Tilly, who's such a lovely little girl. In many ways it's deeply unfair to burden her with my 'baggage', so I'm trying not to let my more despondent moments affect her. She's so full of fun and joy that it's hard to be down when she's around, thankfully. I'm trying to concentrate on making sure that she's happy, settled and knows how much she's loved already. She's repaying me ten-fold by helping me retain a degree of sanity. And of course, physical exhaustion helps too. So she tells me.

Fruit Bat

2007-09-04T14:42:00.000+01:00

I'm beginning to wonder if Tilly might be related to a fruit bat. There are some physical similarities, like the well-developed ears, and black coat, but I think it may go further than that.

We've been in the garden for the past couple of hours, intermittently playing ball, dozing, reading (me) and enjoying the sunshine. During that time, Tilly has hoovered up several windfall damsons (complete with stones), two windfall apples (complete with cores, stalks and probably maggots) and a selection of twigs, leaves and other vegetation. I do feed her, honestly. She also has a penchant for strawberries, nectarines, and sleeping upside down.

Should I contact the Natural History Museum?

Unsociable Ladies

2007-09-02T14:16:00.000+01:00

No, I haven't been chasing scantily-clad ladies around, and been rebuffed. Chance would be a fine thing...

I'm referring to Tilly, who over the past couple of days has taken to retiring to her bed in the kitchen whenever we're not actively involved in a game, or a walk, for example. Now, in many ways, this is very good - she obviously feels safe and warm in her bed, and doesn't feel the need to have me in her sight all the time. All good, healthy things. However, on the flip-side this tells me that she doesn't feel safe and warm sitting on the sofa next to me, and can't stand the bloody sight of me when I'm not entertaining her.

Am I being over-sensitive? She's really not into cuddles and snuggling up on the sofa - but I hope this may come in time. Perhaps she just needs more space and time to herself than Prince did, or is still a little unsure of her new surroundings.

I suppose I'll have to retire to the sofa alone and consider this.... any ideas anyone?

Oh, and about those scantily-clad ladies.......

Experimentation....

2007-09-01T22:32:00.000+01:00

This isn't terribly exciting I'm afraid, but having decided to upload a video as an experiment I might as well leave it up now. After all, it took half an hour to upload and I haven't got the heart to delete it now.... The joy of a knackered tennis ball!

Alpine Doggy

2007-09-01T22:10:00.000+01:00

Tilly and I clambered up Bickerton Hill this afternoon. OK, so it's not really alpine - but it's as close as we get on this side of Cheshire! She was very well behaved throughout, although I did let her off her lead towards the end of the walk, which was fine until a fellow collie was spotted. Needless to say, my plaintiff cries were consequently ignored.....

Yay, can we gallop all the way back down now?!

Then I can just relax in the garden with my ball.....

Memory Lane (9)

2007-09-01T13:26:00.000+01:00

Apart from the staples of eating, chewing, and bullying Daddy, swimming was always one of Princes favourite pastimes. I mentioned in an earlier post how Prince first came to enjoy water, but throughout his life he took any opportunity to get his feet wet, as long as the source wasn't rain.

The beach was one of Princes all time favourite places, and somewhere my parents took him often. They live closer to the coast than I do, and so whenever they were looking after him and the weather was good, that's where they would head. The beach that both my parents and I used to take him to was reached via a steep sandy track, and then there was a huge expanse of sand before you could get to the sea. Being the North West of England, the sea was usually at least half a mile out. Prince used to take this opportunity to run towards it at full pelt - usually with my parents clinging on to the end of the lead for dear life. I think my mother came a cropper once or twice being towed towards the surf, and I'm sure my father did too - although he probably never owned up to it! Prince was like the proverbial 'pig in muck' on the beach and used to spend many happy hours splashing in the shallows, crunching crab-shells and rolling in rancid mounds of seaweed.

Arrival home invariably brought a hefty dose of showering, which was an experience in itself. He was very good in the shower, and contented himself with looking suitably 'hang-dog' whilst being rubbed down. As soon as he was released, he would maraud around the house and then settle himself in a seated position, in readiness for the hairdryer. This bit he loved, and would squirm and pose whilst he was dried. Once complete and his back-end resembled a bouffant dandelion clock, he would bound joyfully downstairs and tuck into a bone with relish.

Such was his love of water that I bought him a paddling pool for hot days. Below you can see him spying on me through the grass to see if I'd finished filling it up.....

And on one of his many happy visits to the beach, heading for Ireland....

A Lady of Routine...

2007-09-01T13:08:00.000+01:00

Thankfully, no further incidents have occurred since Thursday, although Tilly was slightly 'out of sorts' yesterday. I think this was because what has become her usual daily routine was somewhat disrupted. I needed to take my car into the garage first thing in the morning, so this resulted in a different walk in the morning, much earlier than usual, and then me going straight out. I then had a courtesy car, so had to take her out straight from the house in the afternoon, along the dreaded road, and then go straight out again to collect my car again. I think she was a little thrown by this sudden exposure to the realities of life, but generally coped well. She did incredibly well walking on the road, and seems to be getting more accustomed to cars zooming quite close to her. The harness makes life much easier in this respect.

We've been back to relative normality today, as you can see below....

See, this car thing's not really that scary....

and it means I can taunt Daddy from a distance.....

as well as admire the view.....

An Incident.....

2007-08-30T22:42:00.001+01:00

Tilly, or 'Bugger' as she was known this morning......

Tilly and I had rather a traumatic experience this morning.

We'd been on our usual morning walk, and Tilly had been an absolute angel. Her recall has improved significantly, and she'd been off her lead for the last half of the walk. I put her back on her lead as we approached the track back to the car, as there is a field of cows at the end and she still views them as aliens - ripe for barking at.

There are two gates at the end of the track, and as I got to the second I noticed a couple of people on horses approaching. I decided to keep the gate open for them, firstly, because I ride and know how difficult it can be opening and closing stiff gates, and secondly, because I thought it would be good for Tillys equine education.

As expected, Tilly went crazy as they approached, barking and spinning around. The two horses and riders were fine with this and I explained that she was new and hadn't seen much. In the meantime, Tilly had wrapped her lead around my leg about twenty times and had her face virtually pinned to my knee. Then it happened. Due to the leverage she had accidentally achieved by being wrapped up, and a sudden lurch towards the nags, she popped out of the bl**dy Ezydog harness. I think the blood drained from my face as I stood holding the lead, with an empty harness dangling from it.

Anyway, Tilly proceeded to maraud around the two horses, having a sniff of ones tail, barking, snapping at their hocks etc... Basically, everything that with most horses would have found her launched into orbit on the end of an iron-shod hoof.

Thankfully, these were ride and drive horses, and used to things going on behind them. I'm not sure Tilly realises what a lucky escape she had. I managed to pin her down in the end and clip the lead onto her collar, but it was a frightening experience. In many respects it would have been good if one of them had given her a boot, as long as she suffered nothing but a shock.

The riders were most understanding, and took it in their stride. So much so that they seemed to want to chat for hours. All the time, Tilly was woofing, and the cows were approaching the now open gate, having identified some excitement going on at exit one.....

In the end, I scarpered, with the valid excuse that I needed to close the gate sharpish. What a walk!!

This afternoons walk was far less eventful. Tilly was enormously over-excited, as it was a walk she hadn't done before, but pretty good under the circumstances.

Going back to the harness issue, and perhaps for the benefit of other blogging dogs using them (Bailey and Mollie) I don't think it's really a design fault - but a freak occurrence. It only came off because she'd got herself so tangled up, and I still have no idea how really. I don't think that any other harness I've seen could be any more secure, so I think it's just something to be aware of rather than concerned about......

Memory Lane (8)

2007-08-29T22:15:00.000+01:00

I mentioned in my last 'Memory Lane' post the most recent holiday that Prince and I enjoyed together. We had a great time, as ever. I always referred to these trips as our 'boys own adventures', as that's really what they felt like. We always used to be getting up to no good, doing things totally unplanned, and getting into scrapes. The funny thing was, that I always knew that the two of us could face anything together, and overcome any prospective problem. Thankfully, problems were rare.

Our last holiday was no exception. Back in May, very shortly before he was diagnosed, we rented a cottage on the Shropshire / Wales border for a few days. This was a new experience, as we'd always relied on hotels previously, and I thought it would be good to have a little more freedom. The cottage was lovely, small but clean and comfortable. It had a log-burner and resident rabbits, so immediately met with Princes approval.

I can only assume that Prince was already developing the lymphoma whilst we were on holiday, but he showed no sign of it until perhaps the final night. We did lots of walking, and invariably Prince led the way. We went to Attingham Park, Carding Mill Valley, Ludlow, a local nature reserve and many other places. Prince was like a mountain goat at Carding Mill, and a piglet in the centre of gatronomy that is Ludlow! He was absolutely full of beans and thoroughly enjoyed himself - I didn't think for a minute that he wasn't well, and I don't think he did either. The only indication, which is only in hindsight, was the final night. Rather than relaxing in the sitting room with a bone, Prince decided to go to bed early. I wasn't at all concerned by this as he'd done a heck of a lot of walking and exploring for an older dog, but perhaps it was a sign of things to come.

I'm so pleased that we had this holiday - he was like a puppy again, and I was in my element with him at my side. Annoyingly, I left my camera at home so don't have any pictures from this trip, so I've included another favourite above. This was taken at Eaton Hall, near Chester. We went to their gardens open day with his Grandparents. Of course, Prince and I were more interested in the tea and cakes than the hellebores so we took up position outside the tea stall. Prince was in his rightful place, on my knee, awaiting a piece of Victoria sponge......

Childcare....

2007-08-29T21:56:00.001+01:00

I had to laugh at the comments my last post generated. I was particularly amused by the references to shipping Tilly off to my parents house so that I can have some respite. The 'aulds', as I like to refer to them, will be seeing quite a lot of Tilly, as they will kindly look after her during my (thankfully fairly infrequent) visits to the London office when I start back at work. I've already 'booked' them for the first two days of October, when I'll have to go up to town to get get back up to speed on how this work malarkey is conducted. I think they're consumed with a combination of fear, trepidation, and anticipation. Despite her exhuberance, she really is an angel. They came over to my house last night to see her, and she worked her magic as ever by immediately cuddling up between them and falling asleep. What worries me slightly about this is that their visits tend to be after 'the witching hour' of eight thirty in the evening, when Tilly flakes out after a busy day. Her demeanor at the same time in the morning is somewhat different!

It was good to get a couple of 'lurchery' comments too. I seriously considered looking for a lurcher at the time, predominantly as I've been really taken with my friends lurchers, as well as those of fellow bloggers. I may well have joined the ranks of long-dog ownership were it not for Prince gently guiding me towards a funny little black thing with long legs and a damned cheeky face.....

Tillys new harness arrived today, as recommended by Emma, who's just got one for Mollie. It's an Ezydog harness, and I have to say that I'm impressed so far. It seems good quality, comfortable and was easy to fit. It moves around a little on her, but this may be down to my adjustment. She is a funny shape though - the straps that go around her neck could probably do with being a fraction longer, whilst the girth straps are perfect. The larger size would undoubtedly be too big though. She seemed to adapt to it really well, and it's great not to be pulling on her neck. We went on a new walk this afternoon to test it out and it felt much more secure and controlled. We can start getting some more road experience now that I'm not concerned about her slipping her collar as she shies away from oncoming cars.

Weary, Weary, Weary....

2007-08-28T15:26:00.000+01:00

I really must stop complaining, but I really am tired. I'm not used to getting less than seven hours sleep a night for any sustained period. I didn't get much sleep whilst Prince wasn't well, and now I'm not getting much because Tilly Trotter needs to get up earlier than I might like. Added to this we have our daily walks / drags adding up to two hours now. I'm b*ggered. Oh well, I suppose it's doing me good. I do look forward to a time when we trust each other a little more, and walks are a little more relaxing. At the moment, I don't get chance to look anywhere but at Tilly, and my feet if I'm jogging over rough ground, and all this is conducted at fairly high speed, so I can't say walks are terribly pleasurable. In contrast, long before he slowed down due to age or illness, Prince at least sniffed and wee'd every twenty centimetres - giving ample opportunity to admire the scenery and take a breather! We'll get there in the end I suppose.

I escaped for a couple of hours after our morning walk to go and see some friends at their farm. As well as a their usual selection of lurchers and terriers, they're also 'walking' a couple of foxhound puppies at the moment for the local hunt. They are causing absolute mayhem - nothing is safe from being chewed, urinated on, or eaten. One was swinging on one of the horses tails as I left - thankfully a laid back horse who wasn't overly concerned. No wonder there was such concern about the possible re-homing of foxhounds when the ban was brought in!!

I Spy....

2007-08-26T21:56:00.000+01:00

Uncle Damian and his partner, Auntie Katrina, came to visit Tilly today and we all went for a walk together. I'd pre-warned them that this was unlikely to be a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll, but more of a cross-country endurance trial. As it was, she wasn't as quick as she can be, and we played a lot of 'fetch' beforehand to try and burn off some of the excess energy, so it was quite manageable. She also spent most of the walk on the lead, as her recall's taken a bit of a backward step over the past couple of days. I assume this is because she's getting more confident and independant - but I couldn't risk her disappearing in the forest, or rounding a corner to find a horse or unsociable dog on the other side. Hopefully, we'll be back on track soon.

Tilly isn't currently allowed upstairs in the house, which is something I imposed from day one when I wasn't sure what the house-training situation was. Also, I like to think of upstairs as being a quiet place for Prince and I at the moment. Of course she'll be allowed up at some point, but I think it's quite healthy to have boundaries in the early days. Even Prince wasn't allowed upstairs for some time after I first got him. Tilly's very good though, she goes to sleep on the sofa at the bottom of the stairs so that when I come back down, she can greet me immediately as the door opens. The picture below shows me discovering her waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

As you've probably guessed, the picture's taken using the webcam, which is set to take a picture when it detects motion, or when you click a button. I can't emphasise enough how useful this piece of gadgetry is. It was crucial when Prince wasn't well, so that I could keep an eye on him, and even my mother watched him from twenty miles away. Now with Tilly, I have it on in the kitchen at night so that I can check that she's not up to no good, and occassionally if I'm upstairs I'll put it in the sitting room so that I can get a better idea of how she copes with me leaving her. I can also spy on her via my mobile phone when I'm out if necessary. It really is useful, but was rather expensive at about £200 when I got it. The peace of mind it gave when Prince wasn't well was worth the money though.... If anyone's interested, this is the one I got.

Memory Lane (7)

2007-08-26T21:29:00.000+01:00

Prince, Showing a lot of respect for the ruins at Fountains Abbey.....

Prince loved living at the current house. As well as having rabbits in the garden, he had horses on the other side of the road, and every Winter he had his very own sheep in the paddock next to the house. Due to his previous exploits, he never had much interaction with the sheep, whereas I unfortunately did. The farmer used to leave them in the same paddock long after they had eaten every available bit of grass. This led to them regularly sticking their heads through the wire to eat the grass outside the paddock. Sheep being sheep, and generally quite keen on the concept of death, they invariably got their heads stuck and would have happily remained stuck until the grim reaper brought down his sickle. I disappointed them terribly by doing a twice daily round of the field - wrestling them out of the wire fence and setting them free. Prince used to go crazy when I came in smelling of sheep - he used to think I'd been terribly unfaithful.

It was during our time at this house that we started going away together frequently. It had been less frequent previously, because sharing a hotel room with Prince had been like bunking up with a budgie with a megaphone. He used to cry all night at the door, and be up and down off the bed every two minutes. However, as he got a little older he settled a lot, and we spent many happy holidays together.

We went to the Coniston Hotel in Skipton very often. It's owned by a lovely family, and has an enormous amount of land, and a lake, ideal for walking dogs. Our last visit was at Easter, and we carried on to another hotel in North Yorkshire which was one of those that advertises as dog friendly, but in reality is anything but. Prince wasn't allowed out of the confines of the room, whereas at the Coniston Hotel he was a regular in the bar and lounges. We had a good time in Yorkshire though, and buzzed around Fountains Abbey, an arboretum I can't remember the name of, and numerous farm and country tracks.

Over the years we visited many other places together - various parts of the lake district, Burghley Horse Trials, Badminton Horse Trials, lots of local equestrian events (he'd become very horse friendly by this point!) and our last holiday together, on the Wales / Shropshire border. Our Shropshire holiday was probably the most special of all, not only because it was our last, but because it was one of our true 'boys own adventures'. More of that next time though....

Helping

2007-08-25T21:17:00.000+01:00

Tillys been doing a lot of 'helping' today. 'Helping' daddy keep fit by running him ragged, 'helping' ensure daddy didn't have a quick nap after lunch by sticking her tongue in my ear every time my eyes closed, 'helping' daddy remain alert out walking by disappearing at every opportunity and roundly ignoring my pleas for her to come back.... I'm exhausted - she's really beaten me today.

She was also very helpful whilst I made some chicken liver pate this evening. She helped ensure the livers didn't burn in the pan, and also helped clean up when I dropped some on the floor whilst trying to spoon it into ramekins. She'll probably have the raging sh*ts now - just what I need.

The only thing she didn't help with was when I escaped to my favourite spot to talk to Prince. I'm not going to make it a weekly pilgrimage in case I ever can't make it, but I did need to get away and spend some time with him on my own today. It's been four weeks now, and I still miss him just as much as ever. I'm a little more composed now, and not quite as fragile, but I still yearn for him with every cell in my body. Sometimes it's the strangest things I miss the most, like the sound of him 'checking' his food bowls in the kitchen, and sometimes it's a sensation - like the feeling of his wiry coat against my leg in bed. But I know that I miss him so much that I still can't imagine a future without being able to look down and see him next to me. I can feel him, and this is crucial, but my god would I like to be able to bend down and kiss his wiry muzzle. I'd do anything imaginable to have him lying between my legs chewing bones now....

The Postman Knocks Twice.....

2007-08-24T15:14:00.001+01:00

Tilly's had her very own special delivery for the second time this week. Todays delivery was less exciting than yesterdays, but did contain a huge bag of Burns dog food - Venison and Brown Rice to be specific!

She enjoyed the sample, everyones comments were positive, and I like the look of the company, so I hope she does well on it. I remain impressed with their efficiency - I only ordered this bag from their website late on Wednesday night, and it arrived first thing this morning.

Tilly had a great time last night at her Grandparents house. Due to the breakdown of their fitted fridge, I had to leave her with them and dash out for a cheap standalone one to tide them over. She didn't seem too perturbed to realise I'd gone, but I believe did wander from room to room wondering where I was. On the upside, she had lots of ball games in the garden, a few games of 'dumbell', and the odd treat when I wasn't looking from Grandpa.....

Memory Lane (6)

2007-08-24T00:10:00.000+01:00

About a year after Princes 'mother' left, we were on the move again. This time we had no restrictions in terms of location, so we headed to the sticks. Well, not really, but a truly rural part of Cheshire, surrounded by fields, woods, horses and cows. Prince absolutely loved it. We moved to a beautiful old stone cottage, with a ramshackle garden, and much to Princes delight - resident rabbits!

Prince took to true country life like a duck to water. One of the things I've always loved about him is how adaptable he is, despite receiving very little 'formal' training. Horses are a good example. When we first got him, he was absolutely enthralled by them, and would frighten us to death by leaping up to try and snap at them over the stable door. By the time he reached his last home, he was happy to walk quietly alongside them, blow up their noses, and have his back nuzzled by them. The same went for cows.

Sheep were a different matter - he never really accepted them. I think a lot of this stemmed from his first real experience with them, at the previous house. What happened was my fault entirely. There was a field that we walked through regularly, and after walking through it almost daily for a couple of years, it had never had any form of livestock in it. However, one evening late in the Autumn after the clocks had gone back we approached the field in the dark and I let him off his lead. He shot off, which surprised me. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could just make him out, mounting a small group of sheep one by one in the corner of the field. I'm not sure if he was trying to play with them, becoming amorous, or simply bewildered, but I was horrified. I'm pretty sure there was no malice in his actions, but I'm not sure the farmer would have seen it that way. Anyway, I stumbled across the field in the dark to retrieve him, losing the lead in the process, and we slunk off. Thankfully, all the sheep seemed unfazed by their experience, and I didn't see any suffering after-effects the next morning. Of course, Prince was delighted with his activities, and was on the lookout for willing participants for the 'mount the sheep' game from there on....

Special Delivery

2007-08-23T00:02:00.000+01:00

Tilly was delighted this morning to find that she had received her very first parcel from the postman. Addressed to her and everything!! After careful (read frenzied) unwrapping, she found an exciting 'chuckit', or ball-launcher, very kindly donated by Tealeaf, Boots, Meg, Cleo and QB over at Blogs from the Dogs.

This afternoons walk was punctuated by rather offensive language as I tried to get to grips with it, at a venue very badly chosen for the task. After several miss-launches, and periods of scrabbling in undergrowth for the wayward ball, we got the hang of it and Tilly was overjoyed. Tongues-lolling, we made our way back to the car tired but satisfied. Thanks to Kerio, TDF and family!! I will post some photographs of our exploits soon, but need her recall to be a little more reliable before I can risk being distracted by the camera whilst out walking....

Favourite Blogs

2007-08-21T22:11:00.000+01:00

I've become quite obsessed with blogs and blogging since starting this one back in early June. It's a shame the reason it was started is so painful, but I've been meaning to post for ages about some of my favourite blogs. I apologise for any ommissions or duplications from previous posts.

The Lurchers - Self explanatory, and great fun.

Flowerpot Days - A beautifully written blog from Cornwall, with a doggy element as well as general interest to writers, musicians, or anyone who appreciates creativity.

Watsons Canine Lymphoma Blog - A chronicle of Watsons battle against Lymphoma. He sadly lost his fight very recently, but I'm looking forward to reading more about his early days.

Picotee - A fun and lighthearted blog of general interest, written by Kerri - also the writer of the brilliant blog below.

Blogs from the Dogs - Hysterical tales and pictorial stories from a great pack of lurchers and wolfhounds.

Mollies Blog - A great day to day account of the life and loves of a Jack Russell terrier from Leicestershire. Many of her traits remind me very much of Prince!

A Frog Dogs Life - The innermost thoughts, likes and dislikes of a much loved French Bulldog called Balboa

Cold Wet Nose - Beverley Cuddy, Editor of Dogs Today Magazine, writes this highly informative blog. Great for under-reported stories and issues affecting the doggy world.

Bailey & Parents - Somewhat irregular (but understandably so) reports on the progress of Bailey, the labrador puppy who joined the family after the sad loss of Benji to Lymphoma.

Dogga - Not terribly doggy, but a really interesting and fun blog written by a sound engineer with a good sense of humour and interesting job....

Dumbell Dreams

2007-08-21T22:00:00.000+01:00

Tilly has an orange rubber dumbell, as can be seen in the picture on the right. Said dumbell is offered for a game at least 3,347 times a day. Woe betide anyone who doesn't want to play dumbell. I'm having dreams about orange dumbells. I see orange dumbells, hiding behind trees. I fear orange dumbells.

However, even an orange dumbell fails to rouse Tilly after about eight thirty or nine o'clock at night. She makes me laugh in that she doesn't stop all day, and then by the evening she's exhausted. I hope I'm not doing too much with her. Even a border collie cross must have limits. We're currently doing about two hours a day, about a third of which is now off her lead. In between there are the dreaded dumbell games and other shenanegans. I don't intend to increase walking time if I can avoid it, as it would be unfair when I go back to work and probably couldn't realistically do more than a couple of hours walking a day. I don't know, do you think I'm doing too much? She certainly never gives any indication before the evening that she's tired.....

Yummy Delivery

2007-08-21T12:55:00.000+01:00

When we got back from our morning walk, Tilly was delighted to find a range of samples of Burns dog food sitting on the mat. I'm very impressed with their efficiency - I only ordered them yesterday. I fed Prince James Wellbeloved dry food, which he enjoyed mixed with fresh vegetables and some meat, but Tilly would only eat the meat and vegetables. I've also recently found out that JW are very cagey about their animal testing procedures. Now, testing dog food on dogs sounds likes a pleasurable experience to me - but I'm suspicious as to why they're so reticent to give details.

So, having had a look around for a company who are transparent about their ingredients, are ethical in sourcing the meat element, and are aligned with my natural feeding ethos, I have come across Burns. She hasn't tried it yet, but if she likes it I'll be pleased, as I like what I read and hear about Burns dog food. It was also good to get a £5 discount voucher with the samples!

She's flat out at the moment, having spent much of this mornings walk off the lead, and a significant time playing with a lovely crossbreed she's met before, and two English Setters who we met shortly afterwards. She also said hello to a little Norfolk terrier and a Jack Russell. I'm so pleased she gets on well with other dogs...

Memory Lane (5)

2007-08-21T12:22:00.000+01:00

Our next move was a compromise between myself and my girlfriend at the time, to a semi-rural part of Cheshire. I think I came out of the move better to be honest, as did Prince, who found a canal, fields and lovely community on his doorstep.

The move was less positive for my relationship with Princes mother, and it was at this time that the cracks started to show. We did our best to hide it from him, but I'm sure he knew something was amiss.

In typical Prince style, he carried on as normal - chewing rawhide voratiously, honing his rabbit chasing skills, and enjoying long walks through fields and woodlands. He was also continuing his journey to become an amazingly well-rounded dog and the best friend I could wish for. He still had some slightly odd moments, like taking a dislike to a particular room for no apparent reason (ghosts?), but he was such a good dog that such things failed to be an issue.

When Princes mother and I split up, it was a hard time for all involved. As I've mentioned previously, she did the right thing in choosing to stay away after a while, as seeing her occasionally was just confusing Prince. He missed her terribly. Despite all her faults, she was brilliant with him and provided a certain type of feminine care that I couldn't. For about a year, Prince suffered eye problems that I'm sure were associated with the loss of his 'mother'. On the day she left, I took him away to a hotel in Yorkshire so that he wouldn't be unsettled by the whole process. Of course, he spent the evening entertaining the residents in the bar...

Princes dislike of vets also reached new levels at this time, and resulted in me taking him daily for a while, purely to feed him sausages in the waiting room to try and make it a more positive experience. My motivation to do this was also increased by the presence of a very attractive veterinary nurse at the practise. Unfortunately, in the longer term Prince never overcame his dislike of vets, and I never managed to woo the nurse. B*gger.

After the departure of my girlfriend, Prince migrated from his own room to my bed to sleep. As far as I was concerned, he was a far better sleeping partner and it signalled the start of many years of cuddling, squirming and snuffling under duvets with him. Not correct in training terms I know, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

As you can see from the picture above, his ever-growing toybox received a lot of attention when the weather reduced his enthusiasm for a walk...!

Random

2007-08-21T00:13:00.001+01:00

I don't really have a great deal to write about today, but as is typical of me, I've decided to blog for bloggings sake. I'll write another installment of Princes life story tomorrow, but I'm too tired tonight to give it the concentration it deserves.

It was Tillys first day of freedom today, as her vaccinations will be fully effective by now. Or should be - maybe not if you believe the controversy.

We had a good walk somewhere new this afternoon, but she spent very little time off her lead, as she was not inspiring confidence with her recall. She was far too excited and distracted to risk it, and I could see a distinct glint of naughtiness in her eye the whole time....

She was very tired this evening, and I wasn't sure she felt particularly good. This instinct was proved correct when she got up to throw up on the carpet. The poor little thing was clearly preparing to be shouted at for this, so I had to reassure her that such unavoidable things were not punishable in this house! Perhaps surprisingly for me, I'm not overly concerned by her expulsion. Any dog owner will know that one-offs are not really anything out of the ordinary. I'll just have to hope I don't find any more in the morning.....